The BJP has intensified its election campaign in Kumargram, an Assembly seat in the Alipurduar district that shares borders with BJP-ruled Assam, by highlighting what it describes as significant improvements in law and order and overall development in the neighbouring state over the
past decade.

Kumargram shares close social and economic ties with the districts of lower Assam.

Residents frequently cross the border, and traders from Assam regularly visit markets in Barobisha, which is within the constituency.

Manoj Oraon, the sitting MLA and the BJP candidate from Kumargram, said: “We are highlighting the massive changes in Assam under BJP rule over the last 10 years. The law and order have improved, militancy is under control and development is visible across several sectors. Earlier, people from Assam came to north Bengal for treatment, but now people from here are going to Guwahati.”

“The voters of Kumargram are aware of these developments and we believe that similar changes could occur in Bengal if there is a change in government,” he added.

The BJP has been in power in Assam since 2016.

Residents said that frequent interactions with people from Assam have made them aware of changes there.

They added that the flow of movement has reversed in recent years.

“It is true that earlier, people from Assam would visit north Bengal for health services, but now, residents from Alipurduar and Cooch Behar travel to Guwahati for better medical treatment,” said Sajal Saha, a Kumargram resident whose wife is being treated at a hospital in
Guwahati.

The traders who frequently travel to Assam claim that the law-and-order situation has improved.

“Earlier, we did not dare to travel to Assam after evening. Now we can move freely even at midnight and carry cash without fear,” said Birbhadra Saharoy, who runs a departmental store in Barobisha and often visits Assam.

Since Kumargram falls within the tea belt and has around 12 tea estates, the BJP has also flagged the difference in the tea wage rates of Bengal and Assam.

In Assam, the daily wage rate has been increased by ₹30.

Tea workers of the estates in the Brahmaputra valley receive ₹280 and the daily wage for workers from gardens in the Barak valley
is ₹258.

“The new rates will come into effect from April 1. We are reaching out to the tea workers in the area and making them aware of the disparity. The rates in Assam are higher than the ₹250 daily wage rate of the tea workers in Bengal,” said a BJP leader.

In north Bengal, tea workers and their families decide the result of 10-12 Assembly constituencies.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP had won most of the seats in the tea belt.