Rahul Gandhi held his first election rally in Assam on Sunday.
Hoping to cash in on the resentment against the centre's controversial citizenship law that sparked massive, violent protests in Assam last year, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that his party will protect every principle of the Assam Accord and will never implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA if voted to power in the state. Addressing his first public rally in Assam ahead of the assembly elections due in March-April, Mr Gandhi said that the state needs its "own chief minister" who will listen to the voice of the people.
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"The Assam Accord has brought peace and it is the protector of the state. I and my party workers will protect each principle of the Accord. There will not be a single deviation from it," he said. Mr Gandhi said illegal immigration is an issue in Assam and expressed confidence that the people of the state have the capability to resolve the issue through dialogue.
Alleging that BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are trying to divide the state on the issue of Assam Accord, he said, "If Assam is divided, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah will not be affected, but the people of Assam and the rest of India will be affected."
Wearing the traditional Assamese scarf 'Gamocha' with the word CAA crossed, the senior Congress leader said that if his party comes to power in the state, the law will not be implemented under any circumstance.
Targeting the current Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Mr Gandhi said Assam needs a chief minister from their "own people" who will listen to their issues and try to resolve them. "Remote control can operate a TV but not a CM (Chief Minister). The current CM listens to Nagpur and Delhi. If Assam gets a CM like this again, it will not benefit the people. The youths need a CM who will give jobs to them," he said.
He also promised to raise the income of Assam's tea garden workers saying, "Assam's tea garden workers get Rs 167 per day wage while traders in Gujarat get tea gardens. We promise to give tea garden workers of Assam Rs 365 per day wage. Where will the money come from? It will come from Gujarat's traders."
Taking a dig at the PM Modi, Amit Shah and "businessmen close to them", Mr Gandhi said, "I have devised a new slogan for Assam -- Hum doh, humare doh; Assam ke liye humare aur do, aur sab kuch loot lo."
He alleged that natural resources and public sector enterprises in the state are being "sold off" to two leading businessmen of the country. He also accused the Modi government of "looting" public money during the COVID-19 pandemic and waiving huge amounts of loans of his "two businessmen friends".
He said that the Congress government under the leadership of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had brought peace to Assam by ending the era of violence and followed the Assam Accord which provides for the detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who have entered the country after 1971 and living in the state, irrespective of their religion.
Under the CAA, members of non-Muslim communities who came in from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before 2015 will get Indian citizenship. The law that came into effect last year, had triggered massive protests in the state over concerns that it violates the provisions of the Assam Accord and allows for illegal settlers from Bangladesh to be legalised.
Responding to Mr Gandhi's charges, Assam Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Congress should take a stand against Bangladeshi immigrant Muslims if it is true to its words about saving the state.
