Assam polls: Congress senior observer DK Shivakumar raises ST status question at Dispur rally

DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Indian National Congress's senior observer for the Assam Assembly elections, questioned on March 29 why the BJP-led "double engine" government had failed to grant Scheduled Tribe status to six communities despite repeated assurances over the years.

Shivakumar was among several senior leaders who attended a Congress election meeting in Dispur in support of party candidate Meera Borthakur. He was direct in his attack on the ruling party. "The BJP government has failed to fulfil even one of its election promises in the last 10 years," he told the gathering, accusing the party of driving wedges between communities through communal politics rather than governing in the interest of all sections of society.

He also landed a pointed jab at the BJP's candidate in Dispur, revealing that the very person now contesting on a BJP ticket had once prepared a chargesheet against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Shivakumar challenged anyone to discuss those allegations openly with the Chief Minister.

In a notable aside, he expressed regret over the location of late singer Zubeen Garg's burial site, saying that a man who was not merely a singer but the voice of Assam deserved a memorial closer to the heart of Guwahati.

Shivakumar sought to reassure voters by pointing to Congress's track record in Karnataka, where the party has implemented five guarantees, and said that the five promises announced by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day at a large rally in Naoboicha, Lakhimpur, would be implemented "in letter and spirit" if a Congress government is formed in Assam.

APCC President Gaurav Gogoi, who had attended the Lakhimpur rally before travelling to Dispur for the evening meeting, trained his fire on what he described as the BJP government's use of welfare schemes as political leverage. He alleged that women were being threatened over the phone that their benefits would be cut if they did not attend BJP events or tune in to the Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat radio programme.

"The funds for such schemes belong neither to the BJP nor to Himanta Biswa Sarma — they come from public taxes and must be distributed without discrimination," Gogoi said.

Laying out the party's promises for Assam, Gogoi outlined a package that includes Rs 50,000 for women to support small businesses, a Rs 1,250 monthly pension for senior citizens, free health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh, land pattas for 10 lakh indigenous people, and a commitment to justice in the Zubeen Garg case within 100 days of forming a government.

Gogoi also took aim at Sarma personally, saying his words "carry no value," and framed the broader political contest in Assam not as one between Congress and the BJP, but between what he called the "old tainted Congress" and the "real Congress."

He appealed to voters to cast their ballots for Congress on April 9. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was also present at the meeting.