Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asserted that the Congress would sweep the Assam Assembly polls next year and the incumbent chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would land in jail, allegedly “for the corruption he has done”, while urging party rank and file to keep an eye on the voters’ list.
Rahul largely kept his focus on the issues of corruption, eviction, voter list manipulation and appeasement of corporate interests at the cost of the poor and the marginalised in his 18-minute speech in Chaygaon, about 40km from Guwahati. The party rally was attended mostly by Mandal and booth leaders.
Before the rally, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, general secretary K.C. Venugopal and general secretary in charge of Assam, Jitendra Singh, met frontal heads and other state leaders at the airport.
The leadership also interacted with representatives of tribal communities and the evicted sections.
Rahul, who had last visited the state before last year’s Lok Sabha elections, said: “Your chief minsiter does not think of himself as a chief minister. He thinks of himself as the king of Assam. And Assam’s raja (king) is thinking 24 hours about giving away your wealth and land to either Adani or Ambani. But if you hear his voice closely, watch him on TV closely, you will know awaz ke peeche daar hai (there is fear behind the voice). Today, go back and watch TV... you will see the fear because he knows the Congress will catch him and put him in jail.”
“He (Sarma) knows the corruption he has done. His family has done. And that he will have to answer for this one day before the people of Assam. I am telling you today that this same media will show your CM going to jail. Neither Modi nor Shah will be able to save him. You will see him in jail. This will not be done by the Congress party. This will be done by Assam’s youth, Assam’s farmers, Assam mazdoors and people of Assam. They know this person is a corrupt person. He takes Assam’s land in the name of solar plants or resorts...,” Rahul said.
Sarma reaction
Chief minister Sarma posted on X: “’Take it in writing, Himanta Biswa Sarma will definitely be sent to jail’ — these were the exact words spoken by the leader of the Opposition, Shri Rahul Gandhi, during his closed-door meeting with the Congress political affairs committee in Assam. He came all the way to Assam just to say this, conveniently forgetting that he himself is out on bail in multiple criminal cases registered across the country. My best wishes to you, Rahul ji. Enjoy the hospitality of Assam for the rest of the day.”
Eye on voters’ list
Rahul Gandhi flagged the issue of alleged voter manipulation in Maharashtra, where one crore voters were added in the Assembly polls.
“They are trying to do the same in Bihar by preparing a new voter list. They are trying to remove lakhs and lakhs of voters.. What they did in Maharashtra, they are trying to do in Bihar and then in Assam. You have to stop it,” Gandhi said.
A PCC leader told The Telegraph that the visit would motivate the party workers and that the central leadership has sounded the poll bugle by identifying the poll planks — corruption, eviction and our pre-poll welfare guarantees. Kharge said the party will give priority to education and better wages for tea workers, among others.