Himanta Biswa Sarma: Congress trying to push Assam’s youth back to ULFA (I)

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched a sharp attack on Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, accusing him and the Congress party of demoralising Assam’s youth and attempting to push them back towards militancy and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA (I).

Reacting to Kharge’s earlier remarks on the semiconductor industry, Sarma said the Congress leader’s statements have insulted Assam’s youth and undermined their aspirations for progress and peace. 

“Priyank Kharge has demoralised the youth of Assam. As a result, what will happen? The youth of Assam will go to ULFA (I), they will go to the jungles as militants. They do not want peace in Assam,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister asserted that while his government has worked to bring back former militants into the mainstream, the Congress appears intent on reversing that progress. 

“Today we are bringing back the youth of Assam from militancy, and Congress wants to push them back towards the ULFA (I). They want to destroy the peace we have worked so hard to achieve,” he said.

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Sarma also attacked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, claiming that he had insulted Bharat Ratna awardee Bhupen Hazarika when the music legend was conferred the country’s highest civilian honour. 

“Priyank Kharge is demoralising the youth of Assam, and his father, Mallikarjun Kharge, criticised Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika. This Congress party has always stood against the interests of Assam,” he remarked.

He alleged that the Congress leadership wants to keep Assam economically and socially backward. “They want our people to go to ULFA (I) and live in the jungles. They don’t want industries in Assam. They want to stop our development and push us back into violence,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister reiterated that Priyank Kharge’s comments on the semiconductor project at Jagiroad were “blatantly against the national interest” and an insult to the state’s efforts to create an industrial ecosystem that provides employment and stability to thousands of young people.

“The BJP government is building an industrial Assam; Congress wants to destroy it. The people of Assam have understood this design very well,” Sarma added.