Assam BJP accuses Congress of communal polarisation ahead of 2027 UP Assembly polls

The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, November 9 accused the Congress of attempting to polarise voters ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections by raising religious issues, including the demolition of the Babri Masjid and remarks concerning Diwali.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP's state headquarters, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan, Assam BJP spokesperson Ranjib Kumar Sarmah alleged that senior Congress leaders were invoking sensitive religious and historical issues to consolidate a particular vote bank ahead of the elections scheduled for March 2027.

Sarmah specifically referred to an interview given by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to British publication The Guardian, in which she reportedly recalled breaking down in tears after watching the demolition of the Babri Masjid on television in the 1990s.

Questioning the timing of the interview, the BJP spokesperson alleged that the remarks were an attempt to bring the Ram Janmabhoomi issue back into the political discourse for electoral gains. He claimed that the Congress had repeatedly resorted to what he described as Muslim appeasement politics ahead of important elections.

Sarmah also drew parallels with the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election campaign, recalling remarks made by then Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid at a rally in Azamgarh on February 9, 2012. Khurshid had then claimed that Sonia Gandhi, who was Congress president at the time, had broken down after hearing about the Batla House encounter.

The encounter took place on September 19, 2008, in Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, when the Delhi Police Special Cell conducted an operation against suspected members of the Indian Mujahideen. Two suspected militants, Atif Amin and Mohammed Sajid, were killed, while police officer Mohan Chand Sharma died during the operation.

According to the Delhi Police, the two men were linked to the serial bomb blasts in the national capital on September 13, 2008. Sarmah alleged that Khurshid's reference to Sonia Gandhi's purported emotional reaction during the 2012 election campaign was an attempt to influence voters by invoking the encounter.

The BJP spokesperson also criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks concerning Diwali, alleging that his comparison of the festival with Eid had introduced a communal dimension into the discourse surrounding the celebrations.

Sarmah claimed that the remarks by Gandhi and Kharge, made around the Diwali celebrations, reflected an attempt by the Congress to bring religious issues into the political debate ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections.

He further questioned what he described as selective expressions of grief by Sonia Gandhi, alleging that she had not displayed similar public emotion over several other tragedies in the country. These included the killings of Kashmiri Pandits, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the Mumbai, Delhi and Guwahati serial blasts, the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and the deaths of 855 people during the Assam Agitation.

Sarmah also referred to a statement attributed to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at an official programme at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on December 9, 2006, concerning the claims of minorities, particularly Muslims, over the country's resources. He questioned why Sonia Gandhi had not expressed similar emotions in response to that statement.

The BJP spokesperson alleged that the Congress had consistently prioritised electoral considerations over issues concerning India's cultural and religious traditions. He maintained that the party's references to the Babri Masjid demolition, the Batla House encounter and religious festivals were part of a broader political strategy to mobilise voters along communal lines.