Congress treated tea tribes as ‘vote bank to be harvested every five years’: Union Minister JP Nadda

Union Minister JP Nadda on April 6 accused the Congress of using tea tribes as a “vote bank” while failing to ensure their welfare over the years. Speaking at a rally in support of BJP candidate Rupesh Gowala in Doomdooma, Nadda said the community’s development had been ignored despite repeated electoral support.

“The Congress treated the tea tribes as a vote bank to be harvested every five years. It pushed the future of the community into darkness,” he said.

Tea tribes in Assam trace their origins to labourers brought during the colonial period from present-day Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar. They form a significant voter base in several constituencies in the state.

Nadda also alleged that the Congress had encouraged illegal infiltration during its tenure. He claimed the party had “invited infiltrators into Assam” and provided them with identity and welfare benefits as part of appeasement politics.

“These people are grabbing the land of the Adivasis and the poor,” he said, adding that the BJP would act to reclaim such land and remove illegal immigrants. “Their names are being deleted from the voter list, and those remaining will also be struck off,” he added.

The Union minister praised the tea tribe community for what he described as their resistance to infiltration. “I salute the people of the tea tribes for not allowing the infiltrators to settle here, thereby saving the future of Bharat Mata,” he said.

Targeting the Congress further, Nadda referred to past periods of “violence, killings, strikes, unrest and curfew” in Assam, contrasting it with what he described as improved stability under the BJP-led government over the past decade.

He also highlighted ongoing welfare initiatives in the state and said these would be expanded if the BJP-led NDA returns to power. Nadda urged voters to support the alliance in the upcoming April 9 elections.