Congress fires 10 questions at BJP during Amit Shah’s Assam visit

With Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Assam, the Congress on Friday released a list of 10 questions, accusing the BJP of leaving the state and the wider Northeast “politically orphaned” after a decade in power.

Addressing the media, Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera described Shah’s visit as a “welcome step” from a party he said has consistently ignored the region’s concerns. He said the Congress expected Shah to seek answers from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, whom he referred to as the Home Minister’s “disciple ‘Bhumi-Bikreta’”.

Khera’s first question focused on the long-pending demand for Scheduled Tribe status. “(Prime Minister Narendra Modi) promised six months. Himanta promised five years. It has been 12 years – why is there still no ST status for Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Moran, Matak, Chutia, and the Tea Tribes/Adivasi?” he said in a post on X.

He also alleged large-scale land alienation, asking why the government had enabled the sale of around 1.5 lakh bighas of land belonging to indigenous people to “cronies”, and why the Chief Minister had been given a free hand in such decisions.

“While land, rivers, and forests are being handed away, where are the jobs? Why must Assamese youth migrate and face discrimination elsewhere?” Khera asked, linking unemployment to what he described as the erosion of Assamese identity. He further questioned why lakhs of indigenous voters had allegedly disappeared from the electoral rolls.

The Congress leader raised concerns over agriculture and public services, asking why there was still no minimum support price for Assam’s tea cultivators. “After a decade in power, why does Assam still lag in healthcare? Does your government not care about the well-being of Assamese people?” he said, also flagging water pollution. “Why has poison entered Assam’s waters? What concrete steps have you taken to improve water quality?”

Invoking the BJP’s 2016 campaign slogan, Khera said, “You came with the slogan Jati, Mati, Bheti – yet you weakened the Jati, sold the Mati, and betrayed the Bheti. Why?”

He extended the criticism beyond the state, asking why “the people of Assam – and the entire Northeast – have been politically orphaned”, and blamed foreign policy failures for pushing Bangladesh closer to China, creating “new security and humanitarian challenges for Assam”.

“We have full faith in your legendary ability to get answers to these questions. In the coming months, we will continue to look to you for many more such answers,” Khera said.

Shah arrived in Dibrugarh around midnight on Thursday and was received by Chief Minister Sarma, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, members of the state cabinet and senior officials. This is Shah’s second visit to Assam since December 29, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party prepares for the upcoming assembly elections, where it is seeking a third consecutive term in power.