Tinsukia, Assam: As you drive down national highway 37, soaking in some breath-taking views of Upper Assam's tea gardens, you can't miss the poll graffiti or the election posters here.
Just before Makum, a small tea township, the Congress has put up posters of the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Not seeking votes for the BJP obviously. Mr Sonowal is touching the senior minister's feet. And the poster has a question for him in the local language: "Can he protect the rights of the Assamese people when he bows down to please his party's top leadership?"
The BJP is angry. "What's wrong with the Congress party? Have they completely forgotten Indian culture of respecting elders?" asks BJP's Sanjay Kishan who is contesting from Tinsukia.
The BJP's counter is a poster shows Mr Gogoi with perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal. Accusing the Congress of a "secret pact" with Mr Ajmal -- whose party is popular among Bengali Muslims - the BJP claims it is the only party which can protect Assam's cultural identity. Bengali Muslims moving to Assam has always been an issue here.
Cultural identity and Assamese pride have been recurrent themes in Assam's politics ever since the anti-foreigners' movement against Bangladeshi migrants started in 1979. This election is no different.
Just before Makum, a small tea township, the Congress has put up posters of the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Not seeking votes for the BJP obviously. Mr Sonowal is touching the senior minister's feet. And the poster has a question for him in the local language: "Can he protect the rights of the Assamese people when he bows down to please his party's top leadership?"
The BJP is angry. "What's wrong with the Congress party? Have they completely forgotten Indian culture of respecting elders?" asks BJP's Sanjay Kishan who is contesting from Tinsukia.
The BJP's counter is a poster shows Mr Gogoi with perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal. Accusing the Congress of a "secret pact" with Mr Ajmal -- whose party is popular among Bengali Muslims - the BJP claims it is the only party which can protect Assam's cultural identity. Bengali Muslims moving to Assam has always been an issue here.
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Cultural identity and Assamese pride have been recurrent themes in Assam's politics ever since the anti-foreigners' movement against Bangladeshi migrants started in 1979. This election is no different.
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