BJP emerging as an alternative to Congress?
SILCHAR, May 24: In the aftermath of the results of the Parliamentary elections just concluded, certain important political developments have raised the question, is BJP emerging as an alternative to Congress? This is quite relevant considered against the backdrop of the rise in the vote share of the party by 25 per cent in just three……Complete details here
BJP first list for candidates for Assam Lok Sabha Election
GUWAHATI, March 8: The BJP has announced its first list of candidates for Assam for the Lok Sabha polls. The fist list comprises Guwahati, Mangaldoi, Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Jorhat Lok Sabha constituencies……Complete details here
BJP spokesperson alleges State of being ?reluctant? on Panchgram soil erosion
Assam BJP spokesperson Rajdip Roy alleged that the Tarun Gogoi led Congress government in the State is not in a mood to stop the erosion by river Barak at Panchgram area of Hailakandi district along NH–53..….Complete details here
BJP focuses on major problems of Lakhipur sub–division
Concerned at the manifold problems of Lakhipur telling on the life of common people, the mandal committee of BJP of the
sub–division in a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar through SDO (Civil) recently focused on them for their
immediate resolution. Frequent load–shedding and high electricity surcharge have made it difficult for common people to bear it. It has at the…..Complete details here
Silchar BJP slams UPA II for ’sky–rocketing price rise’
SILCHAR, December 4: In its own unique way the town mandal committee of BJP leaders and workers came out in appreciable number to hold protest demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar against ‘unprecedented price rise’ and other burning issues and slammed the UPA II for its total……Complete details here
CRPC asks people not to be misled by false promises
SILCHAR, September 22: The National President of BJP, Rajnath Singh, during his recent visit to the State assured at a press–conference that the Bengali Hindus who took shelter in various places of Assam after being forced to leave Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan would be given the status of refugees and their citizenship would be considered, if BJP came to power in the next Lok Sabha polls. Nripendra Saha, president, and Bidhayak Das Purkayastha, general secretary, Citizens’ Rights’ Preservation Committee (CRPC), Assam, questioned the genuineness and sincerity of his statement as such assurances “are generally given by leaders of various political parties before every election.”
If Singh was so concerned about the problems regarding the rights, privileges and citizenship of Bengali Hindus, then let him fight it out first on the floor of the house and bring a permanent solution in the form of a Bill and pass an act accordingly, pointed out Nripendra Saha. And then he might appeal to the Bengali Hindus for their votes, as till date the four BJP, MPs representing Assam “has done nothing for this community in solving their problems.” Naturally, he pointed out the Bengali Hindus of Assam could not trust and rely on them anymore.
The leaders of CRPC reminded that the president of Assam State BJP, Sarbananda Sonowal, during his AGP regime put all efforts in abolishing the IMDT Act which was safeguarding the interests of linguistic and religious minorities of Assam. It was his view that such act did not exist anywhere in India, so Assam could not be an exception.
In this context, CRPC wanted to know from him, if the refugees of West Pakistan were given the status of citizenship in different States of India, why even after 66 years of independence, the problems of the refugees of erstwhile East Pakistan still prevailed? Why are they being harassed and tortured, branded as ‘D’ voters and even foreigners. Why Assam is exceptional? CRPC stated that a few days ago the Chief Minister of Assam also made similar statements which were nothing but shedding crocodile tears before elections. During the last Assembly elections also, the Chief Minister made such commitments at a Karimganj rally on the basis of which the people of Barak Valley voted Congress to power.
But, he did not keep his words and continue to befool them and now before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls he was making similar promise. But, this time it was not going to work as people “have become conscious, aware of their rights and privileges and are discreet enough to call a spade a spade.” All the political parties appealing for votes from Bengali Hindus, CRPC said, “have to prove their worth and keep their words as none can be fooled for a long time.”
The leaders of CRPC makes sincere appeal to all the linguistic and religious minorities of Assam not to repeat the blunder that they committed during elections in the past. “Keep your mind and eyes open and do not be misled and misguided by the fake promises made by political parties,” they said.
Source: The Sentinel
BJP leaders and workers to take battle to the home turf of Gautom Roy
SILCHAR, September 7: The way the workers and supporters of Congress attacked the 200 strong motor bike rally of Yuva Morcha and went berserk to disrupt the street corner meeting of BJP in the home turf of Gautom Roy, Minister of PHE, on Thursday, has evoked widespread condemnation from political circles of Barak Valley. The rally and meeting were part of the ongoing mass contact programme of the saffron party in coordination with its sister organizations to drum up support and to sound the bugle for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. In fact, it was also an exercise to boost up the workers of the party who had been lying low before the browbeating tactics of the minister.
Significantly, in the wake of the saffron surge of 90’s, of the three Assembly seats in Hailakandi district, Katlicherra and Hailakandi were wrested from Congress by BJP. After that, the leaders and the workers were somewhat subdued. The seat of Algapur which was the bastion of Congress since the first general elections went to AGP in 1985 and again it was regained by Congress in the by poll of 2013.
BJP under the leadership of the newly elected State president, Sarbananda Sonowal, has been activated and the district level leaders of Hailakandi and Karimganj have put in all their strength to galvanize the organization from the grassroots level. After successfully completing ‘ghar–ghar chalo, gaon gaon chalo,’ campaign, motor bike rally and street corner meetings in Hailakandi to begin with have been taken up. The wide response it generated among the youths in particular and people in general in the Hailakandi district, considered by Gautom Roy as his fiefdom, has created consternation in the minister’s camp.
Faced with the twin challenge of BJP and AIUDF, Gautom Roy has now no alternative than to make the rallies and meetings of his opponents, mainly BJP, his target. The saffron Yuva Morcha brigade could hold the rally and meeting at Hailakandi town and Lala. The large turnout at meetings and the reception the rallies received on their way jolted and jerked the minister’s henchmen and supporters who thought it wise in their own way to halt the march of BJP. The attack and disruption took place in the very presence of police which BJP leaders described as a brazen display of their servile subservience to the minister.
Parimal Shuklabaidya, former MLA and State vice–president of the party, dubbed the attackers on rally and meeting as the ‘goonda brigade of Gautom Roy,’ whom he described not only an affront on democracy but also an incompetent minister. He said everything was premeditated and preplanned and done at the behest of the minister. He alleged his ‘goonda brigade’ first misbehaved with the female workers of the party and then targeted the rally and the meeting.
Gautom Roy’s henchmen, he further alleged, were armed with sharp weapon, rod, lathi and other missiles and two of his workers, Saikat Dutta Choudhury and Ajay Bhattacharya, were injured.
Mission Ranjan Das, ex–MLA and also a State vice–president, said if Congress leaders like Gautom Roy thought the movement of BJP could be thwarted, he was living in a fool’s paradise. He was shaken because the rally that would cover all the eight constituencies of Karimganj Lok Sabha seat would expose how the two national projects, Silchar–Lumding BG and East–West Corridor, had become the goldmine for Congress ministers of Barak Valley and they were squarely to be blamed for its abnormal delay and even their desperate attempt to scuttle them. Mission Ranjan Das added to say the people of Barak Valley could realize that the ministers were only feeding them with false promises.
In the meantime, after being apprised of the developments, State BJP president, Sarbananda Sonowal, in a message advised the leaders and workers not to be cowed down but to go all hog to take the battle to the very domain of Gautom Roy and upset his apple cart. Ashok Dutta Gupta, Hailakandi district president of Congress, refuted the allegations that the attack and disruption were done at the behest of Gautom Roy.
Source The Sentinel 08.09.2013
’’Chief Minister’s statement on Silchar incident provocative’’––Opposition
SILCHAR, August 27: The statement of the Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, at a press–meet at Dispur on Monday, blaming VHP and BJP for the Rongpur incident on the outskirts of Silchar has been dubbed as “highly irresponsible and provocative” by the opposition parties, AGP, BJP, AIUDF and CPM. Moreover, as the opposition leaders said it was also unbecoming of a Chief Minister who is holding the home portfolio to come out with assertion on the involvement of saffron outfits without sharing concrete evidences or proofs.
Dr Rajdeep Roy, state spokesperson of BJP, while condemning the statement in the strongest terms, said it was an exercise on the part of Tarun Gogoi to divide the society on the basis of religion and it was least expected of him. He however added to say that the Chief Minister perplexed by internal dissension and rift within his party and the government had lost the sense of proportion. It was an expression of his frustration, he pointed out.
It was also paradoxical that his two cabinet ministers, Ardhendu Dey and Ajit Singh, who were on the ground, felt embarrassed by the statement of the Chief Minister because after assessing the situation, both refused to identify any group or force unless investigation was completed. Dr Rajdeep Roy said Barak Valley “has its own problems of communication bottleneck and whenever such issues of development are raised by the Opposition, Congress gets involved in exercises to divert the public attention to certain communal or religious or trivial issues and the real issue of development gets subsided.” It was the same tactics adopted during Rumi–Jackie affair, Katigorah–Kalian flare up and even during Badarpur on boil.
Ataur Rahman Majharbhuiya, AIUDF MLA and general secretary of the party, also agreed that before investigation was over, how could the Chief Minister blame any group or organization or party? If Tarun Gogoi had proofs, he should make them public. Such statement, he added to say, only added further fuel to provocation. He stated the Chief Minister should not forget that he was holding a responsible post and to make statement just to malign any organization was undesirable. Naba Gopal Das, AGP Cachar district president, questioning the statement of the Chief Minister said he should better direct the district administration to identify the culprits and arrest them before blaming any organization. Was his statement based on intelligence inputs, he asked? The Chief Minister would be better advised to share it with the media to remove any confusion on the sensitive issue and this would help in restoring peace and harmony. Or was he indulging in ‘vote–bank’ politics without realizing its ramification?
Samiran Acharya, secretary, Cachar–Hailakandi district committee of CPM, reacting to the statement of the Chief Minister, wanted to know the source or the basis on which he came out with it. If, as he said, was impelled by his own Home Department feedback, he could come out with that before the media for public knowledge instead of making it a “political issue to gain political mileage.” It was also shocking that his statement was in contradiction to that of the two Cabinet Ministers, Ardhendu Dey and Ajit Singh.
Source: The Sentinel 28.08.2013
Karimganj LS seat: Advantage BJP
SILCHAR, August 19: Rising above internal bickerings and squabblings, Karimganj BJP District Committee is all gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. According to a party source, various factors stand in favour of BJP which are being deeply examined and analyzed by the frontline leaders of the border district. The emergence and rise of AIUDF which now rules the Zilla Parishad has thrown a bigger challenge before Congress which has in its kitty all the 5 Assembly seats and the lone Karimganj LS seat. But, the stronghold of Congress, from all reckoning, looks not impregnable….complete details here
Congress, BJP demand security for Bangladesh minorities
AGARTALA, August 6: The Congress and the BJP on Tuesday demanded permanent rehabilitation and security for displaced Bangladeshi tribals who last week fled to Tripura after ethnic strife broke out with non–tribal Muslims in Chittagong Hill tracts (CHT).
Over 200 Congress members led by State party president Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and working president Ashish Saha met the head of the Bangladesh mission in Agartala, Obaidur Rahman, and submitted a memorandum demanding proper rehabilitation and security to tribals in that country.
A delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by State party president Sudhindra Dasgupta, also met Rahman here and put up a similar demand.
Over 1,800 men, women and children of Chakma and Tripuri tribes took shelter in the India–Bangladesh border village of Karbook on Saturday after fleeing from five villages in Khagrachari district under CHT in southeast Bangladesh.
The tribals returned to their villages on Sunday after three Bangladeshi MPs and officials of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the local administration assured them full security.
“We have submitted a memorandum to the head of the Bangladesh mission here addressed to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanding security and rehabilitation to the minority tribals in CHT,” Hrangkhawl told reporters.
He said: “The Congress wants equal treatment for Bangladeshi citizens, especially the minorities.”
“Minorities in Bangladesh are being attacked by the majority Muslims. The government must take stern action against the perpetrators and provide security to non–Muslim minorities,” Dasgupta told reporters.
Border Security Force (BSF) Deputy Inspector General Bhaskar Rawat said: “The tribals entered Indian territory on Saturday evening after ethnic troubles in Bangladesh. They were stopped at the border by the BSF at the barbed wire fence. We provided them food and other assistance.”
The tribals, mostly Buddhists and Hindus, fled the CHT after clashes over the reported abduction of a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition in Bangladesh, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. “At least one tribal villager was killed and four others were seriously injured. About 500 tribal houses were burnt to ashes,” Suhas Chakma, Director of Delhi–based rights group Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), said in a press release. Additional troopers of the BSF have been deployed along the India–Bangladesh border to deal with the situation and to prevent refugee influx into Indian territory. In 1986, over 74,000 tribals – mostly Buddhist Chakmas – took shelter in southern Tripura following violent attacks on thousands of tribals by non–tribals. They returned to their homes in Bangladesh 1997–98 after the Bangladesh government signed a peace agreement with Shanti Bahini, an outlawed outfit had been demanding sovereign status for tribals in CHT.
Tripura shares a 856–km border with Bangladesh, which is porous because it extends over mountains that are densely forested. Over 85 per cent of the border has been fenced. (IANS)
Silchar News 