Assam Congress slams BJP over election manifesto; asks it to clarify position on 'CAA'

GUWAHATI: Amid preparations for the ensuing polls in Assam, Congress today slammed the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its alleged "ambiguity" over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act that triggered a massive wave of protests across Assam and elsewhere.

"On CAA the BJP is seen to be absolutely silent. Why? We want to know. Their stand on CAA is ambiguous. In West Bengal state they say they want, in Tamil Nadu they don't want and in Assam they are silent," the party said in a statement.

The Assam Congress also condemned the statement of Home Minister Amit Shah that there were no protests in Assam in the last 5 years.

"He wants to simply obliterate the anti- CAA uprising that happened in Assam. He wants to deny the existence of those young boys like Sam Strafford and Dipanjol who lost their lives in police firing by the Sonowal police force. What can be more unfortunate for the people of Assam than this?," it said, adding that the Congress will leave "no stone unturned" to nullify the Act.

"What were they doing in the last five years on the promise of dredging the river Brahmaputra?," the Congress asked, adding that the dredging of the river Brahmaputra was "an old poll promise of the BJP."

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"To try to fill up the floodwaters of the mighty Brahmaputra in ponds and reservoirs is outlandish. They should first visit Assam during floods then make such ridiculous statements," it said.

The grand old party further claimed that the BJP 's Mission Sishu Unnayan is "nothing but a copy" of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of Congress and that the practice of giving bicycles to students was started by the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress Government in Assam.

The Congress, accusing the BJP of failing miserably in giving the people of Assam a foolproof NRC, said that there is no guarantee that it can deliver on its promise to deliver a "corrected" NRC.

"While they had both Govt in Centre and at State and administration was under them yet they could not give a proper NRC to the people. Their sincerity in solving the illegal migrants' issue is questionable. What they could not do in the last five years what guarantee is there that they will be able to do it in the next five years," the party said in its release.

Attacking the BJP over its promise to generate 1 lakh jobs till March 30 of 22, the Congress said, "In 2016 the BJP had promised 5 lakh jobs every year but now they have come down to 1 lakh jobs within March 2022. So what does this prove? That it was nothing but a false promise. BJP only knows how to give false promises."

The party further pointed out that crimes against women in Assam reached the highest in the whole country for three consecutive years under BJP rule and asked "when women are not safe how can they be empowered?"