The chief minister and his family members and associates have become business tycoons under the watchful eyes of the BJP, party spokesman Jitendra Singh has alleged
Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba
NEW DELHI — Allegations against Assam Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) show-boy in the east, Himanta Biswas Sarma, are flying thick and fast in the northeast state, while the BJP is backing him for his anti-Muslim slurs and anti-Congress rants.
The Assam Congress has mounted a scathing attack on the chief minister for his large-scale corruption, calling it a ‘Double Dhoka government.’
At a recent press conference in the national capital this week, some prominent Congress leaders levelled allegations against the Sarma. This was ahead of the ‘Advantage Assam 2.0 business summit’ inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24 in Guwahati.
The Congress alleged that the Assam chief minister and his family members and associates had become business tycoons under the watchful eyes of the BJP.
“Himanta Biswas Sarma has built an entire empire in Assam. The chief minister, his family members, and associates own many tea gardens, including Kanchanjuri and Radha Krishna tea estates, news portals, a big outlet of McDonald’s, international schools, and lots of land. These lands are purchased in tribal areas, including Majuli, Kamrup, Guwahati, Nagaon, Golaghat, where land cannot be bought,” Congress general secretary in-charge of the state Jitendra Singh said at the press meet.
Singh also alleged that rat-hole mining was happening under the nose of the chief minister and wondered why no action was being taken against illegal mining.
Rakibul Hussain, the Lok Sabha MP from Dhubri, who was present at the press conference, alleged that “the Assam chief minister had links with the underground militant outfit, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). This was “recorded in a government affidavit in 1999”, he claimed.
Media reports said Hussain was allegedly attacked by BJP supporters a few days ago in Assam for his allegation against Biswas.
Among these accusations, it would be apt to quote Purnia MP and Congress leader Rajesh Ranjan, aka Pappu Yadav.
During, last year’s election in Jharkhand, where the Assam chief minister was made the party’s in charge, Yaadav levelled a barrage of charges which has never been answered by Biswas or his ‘protectors’.
Pappu Yadav termed Assam chief minister the ‘biggest goonda’ and ‘scam master’ holding the BJP umbrella. “I have a few documents which prove that he (Sarma) is the biggest (goonda) criminal, a thug, and a man full of nepotism,” Yadav said.
“Records suggest that in 1991, two cases were registered against him on charges of extorting Rs 10 lakh on behalf of ULFA. An Arms Act case was also registered against Sarma at Panbazar police station in Assam, where illegal weapons were found in his possession. He was charged in a TADA case at Chandmari and Panbazar police stations. In 2009, the Guwahati High Court ordered the Assam government to present records related to the TADA cases. His name was linked to the murder of Congress leader Manavendra Sarma in 1991, but the court acquitted him of murder charges as the files mysteriously went missing.”
Pappu Yadav accused the Assam chief minister of extending illegal gratification to his family members and cited the PPE kit scam in Assam during COVID-19. “In 2020, the company of Sarma’s wife was accused of alleged irregularities in the order of PPE kits. Before 2015, Sarma was accused of taking bribes from New Jersey-based company Louis Berger International in the Guwahati water supply project. He was involved in the Sarada Ponzi scam, with allegations that he demanded money from Saradha Group owner Sudipta Sen, the CBI interrogated him for four hours in 2014,” Yadav said.
Recently, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on ‘X’ said, “If Narendra Modi is the head of the slogan factory, then Himanta Biswa Sarma is his regional manager in Assam.
“PM Modi had said – ‘Neither will I eat nor will I let others eat’, but his chief minister in Assam has built a business empire, bought lands in tribal areas, his family has eaten up lands in every district,” he said.
Among all these allegations, the chief minister is washing his sins in the BJP’s holy pond. The BJP is happy with him for his anti-Muslim hate speeches as they boost the egos of the Hindutva forces who want to marginalise Muslims in a state dominated by their electoral strength.
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Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
