Rahul Gandhi tells voters in Assam, Won’t allow CAA implementation at any cost
At a rally in Sivasagar, Rahul Gandhi also promised to raise daily wage of tea garden workers from ₹167 to ₹365 if the party comes to power.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the party will not allow implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at any cost and will work to protect Assam’s interests if the party returns to power in the poll-bound state.
Addressing a rally at Boarding Field in Sivasagar, he said the legislation, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, was a ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divide the people.
“We are wearing a ‘gamocha’ (traditional Assamese towel) today where letters CAA have been written and marked with a cross. It signifies that come what may, CAA won’t happen. Illegal immigration is an issue, but Assam’s people have the capability to resolve this problem together with talks,” Gandhi said.
There’s fear among a large section in Assam that if CAA is implemented it would lead to large scale influx of people from Bangladesh. Violent protests against the legislation in the state in December 2019 claimed five lives.
Stressing that Congress will uphold and defend the Assam Accord (signed in 1985 after a six-year agitation against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh), Gandhi said the BJP was trying to do away with the accord, divide the state and implement CAA.
Accusing the ruling BJP-led government in the state of exploiting the tea garden workers and giving benefit to businessmen from Gujarat, Gandhi promised that if the Congress comes to power in the state it will increase the daily wage of tea workers from present ₹167 to ₹365.
“A mere ₹167 to tea workers and tea gardens to Gujarat businessmen. That’s why BJP wants to divide the state so that its resources can be stolen and given to others,” he said.
Gandhi recalled how he learned a lot about Assam’s diverse communities, languages and cultures from former chief minister Tarun Gogoi (who died last November) during his visits to the state.
“The BJP government at Centre has hurt the people of Assam by putting Gogoi who gave his entire life for the state in the same category of Padma awardees list with a bureaucrat who had served the Prime Minister Modi’s office. This was not a right thing,”
Gogoi was named as a recipient of Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in the country, this year. Retired bureaucrat Nripendra Mishra who served as a principal secretary to the Prime Minister between 2014 and 2019 was also given the same honour.
Gandhi continued with his recent jibe, ‘Hum do, Hamare Do’ (We two, Our two) and said that the country was being run by four people at present. Without taking names he added that like in the Centre, two persons were controlling everything in Assam.
“We are a people’s party. If we come to power, the hatred being spread by BJP will disappear. We will take every section of the people irrespective of their caste, religion, language and status along with us and will create jobs for youths of Assam,” he said.
“Remote control might be good for a television, but not when it comes to running a state like Assam. The present chief minister is remote controlled from Nagpur and Delhi and takes orders from there. That’s why we want to remove this government,” Gandhi added.
Chattisgarh Chief Minister and party observer for Assam Bhupesh Baghel, party’s state in-charge Jitendra Singh, Lok Sabha MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque, party state president Ripun Bora and other senior leaders attended the rally.
Gandhi’s rally comes three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Jerenga Pathar in Sivasagar district on January 23 and distributed land allotment certificates to 106,000 landless families.
Jerenga Pathar, a historic site where Joymoti, an Ahom princess, sacrificed her life in 17th century to protect the life of her husband Prince Godapani, who went on to become a king of the Ahom dynasty.
The site of Gandhi’s rally, Boarding Field, is in the middle of Sivasagar town and close to heritage structures of the Ahom dynasty, which ruled Assam for six centuries from the 13th to the 19th. Earlier called Rangpur, Sivasagar was one the one of the capitals of the dynasty.
The Congress, which ruled the state for three consecutive terms between 2001 and 2016 with Tarun Gogoi at the helm, is aiming to overthrow the BJP-led ruling coalition with an alliance stitched with five other parties.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which has 14 MLAs in the 126-member assembly, newly formed Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) and three Left parties (CPI, CPI-M and CPI-ML) are part of the alliance.
Besides losing power, Congress, which won 26 seats in 2016, has also witnessed several setbacks in recent months due to deaths, by-poll losses and defection.
Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi died in November, two sitting MLAs of the party quit and joined BJP in December and last month another lawmaker passed away taking the party’s strength down to 19.
In their rallies in Assam in recent weeks, both PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have targeted the Congress accusing it of failing to bring peace and prosperity to Assam despite ruling the state for decades.
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