Ahead of Assam assembly elections due next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party heavyweights are in the middle of a two-day executive meeting in Karimganj. Chief Minister Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, state BJP president Ranjit Dass, and state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will attend the meet, reported the Sentinel.
The two-day meeting is expected to be high volt as all office bearers and senior functionaries of the party, including Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and MP Rameshwar Teli, MP Rajdeep Roy, BJP MLAs and others are all expected to attend the meeting. All eyes will possibly be on the BJP’s most visible political face, Himanta Biswa Sarma. According to news reports, security arrangements around the venue have been tightened and apart from Karimganj police, additional personnel from other districts of the state have been deployed.
A bright surge of saffron towards Mission 2021!
Glad to inaugurate the @BJP4Assam State Executive meeting in historic Karimganj with pres Shri @RanjeetkrDass, @BJP4India NE GS(org) Shri @ajayjamwalRSS ji, GS(org) Shri @PhanindranathS3, veteran leaders & hundreds of karyakartas. pic.twitter.com/pj7TgfceKj
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) December 23, 2020
Chief Minister of Assam and the party’s state executive body is expected to set a plan in place to fight to win their target of over 100 seats in the Assam assembly polls to be held next year. According to news reports, BJP MLA Bijoy Malakar said the executive meeting was being held in Barak Valley after 40 years. Another BJP MLA Krishnendu Paul recalled that the BJP had “started its journey in Assam from Barak Valley by winning 10 seats in the assembly polls in 1991,” and the party will start its “100-plus mission from the same place.”
Tha party faces challenges on how to unite its diverse electorate to vote in its favour. It now has to do extensive damage control in the state to appeal to the Assamese people. As the party’s central command remains focused on making the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) a success, the party’s state leadership will now have to clear its stand on the issue. As reported earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma, brushed aside the matter saying it was “no longer a part of the main political discourse in Assam.” So is the state BJP leadership in denial or is it still hoping to use the ‘Modi-factor’ to help them stay in power? Most of the anti-BJP sentiment in Assam is fuelled by the party’s stand on the CAA. SabrangIndia had reported extensively how the BJP pushed for the Act that welcomes persecuted non-Muslim refugees from three of India’s neighbouring countries; Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, people of Assam are opposed to it as it legitimises an influx of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh.
Most recently, on Saturday, December 12, the first anniversary of the day when five people were killed during an agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam, several Assamese organisations had come together to renew their commitment to the struggle against the “unconstitutional” and “anti-Assam” law.
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