BJP accuses Congress of backing suspected illegal immigrants, alleges corruption

Guwahati, July 1: The ruling BJP on Monday accused the principal opposition Congress party of having "misplaced sympathy towards suspected illegal immigrants".

"During its tenure in power, the Congress party evicted genuine indigenous people from land allotted to them and illegally resettled suspected individuals in Barkhetri," State BJP chief spokesperson Kishor Upadhyay said.

Upadhyay alleged that in 2000, the then MLA Pulakesh Baruah had allotted 82 bighas of land in Barkhetri's Bakrikuchi area to several indigenous unemployed youth under the banner of 'Barkhetri Educated Unemployed Association' for agricultural purposes.

"However, former Congress MLA and ex-Chief Minister, the late Dr Bhumidhar Barman, later evicted these indigenous youths and, driven purely by vote-bank politics, resettled suspected individuals in the area. This exposes the Congress party's misplaced sympathy towards suspected illegal immigrants, particularly those with roots in East Bengal," he said.

Upadhyay added that the land in question falls under Grazing Reserve, and the court had issued an eviction order back in 2011.

"Despite approaching the court, these suspected individuals could not obtain legal protection and were eventually forced to vacate the land themselves. The incident reaffirms the Congress party's long-standing bias towards suspected individuals of East Bengal-origin, while blatantly ignoring the rights of indigenous people," he said.

Upadhyay lauded Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for what he termed as "bold measures to safeguard indigenous rights by evicting illegal encroachers from government grazing lands, wetlands, forests, and even Sattra lands".

Referring to the corruption allegation against Rajya Sabha member Ajit Kumar Bhuyan for alleged misuse of MPLADS funds, Upadhyay slammed State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and questioned whether the senior Congress party leader "has the courage to write to the Prime Minister" regarding the issue just as he did about the Gorukhuti project.

"Several projects under Ajit Bhuyan's MPLADS funds exist only on paper. These include the Seuj Namghar road construction in Kahilipara, the Noonmati Sahil Nagar School road, the Krishnamandir road in Rangiya, the Seuj road and link roads in Sawkuchi, the road from Chepti Bihdia to Nankuchi village, and the road from Shalmari Sunday Market to Jalit Ali's house. Altogether 44 projects under Bhuyan's MPLAD funds have been marred by massive corruption," the State BJP chief spokesperson said.

Upadhyay pointed out that the police have already sub-mitted a chargesheet against Bhuyan, and appealed to the President of India to grant permission to prosecute him.

Upadhyay further alleged that some Opposition leaders, including Bhuyan, once misled the people of Assam to protest against the CAA.

"Their only political agenda has been to keep Assam in turmoil. The masks of such leaders will fall soon, exposing their anti-Assam and vote bank-driven intentions," he added.