'Simply copy pasted every scheme': Assam minister Pijush Hazarika questions Congress 'guarantees'

Assam minister Pijush Hazarika has launched a pointed attack on the Congress party, accusing it of plagiarising the BJP government's welfare schemes in its newly unveiled election guarantees.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had announced a five-point guarantee package at a rally in Naoboicha, Lakhimpur district, on March 29, promising monthly cash transfers for women, an additional Rs 50,000 for those wishing to start businesses, Rs 25 lakh cashless health insurance for all families, a monthly stipend of Rs 1,250 for senior citizens, and permanent land rights for 10 lakh indigenous people. He also pledged to deliver justice in the Zubeen Garg death case within 100 days of assuming power.

Hazarika did not take long to respond. In a post on social media, he said Congress had simply "copy-pasted" programmes already in place under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — from the Orunodoi cash transfer scheme to Mission Basundhara and the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Udyamita Yojana.

"For five years, Congress ran a campaign claiming the BJP government was 'creating beneficiaries' funded through borrowings," Hazarika wrote. "Today, instead of giving an alternative road map, Congress is simply promising to continue our excellent track record."

He questioned why voters should trust what he called a "lazy and hypocrite Congress," and raised the spectre of Himachal Pradesh, where the party has faced criticism over its handling of state finances after its election win there. "Can they explain how they will fund these schemes? Or will they turn Assam into what they have done to Himachal Pradesh?" he asked.

Hazarika reserved his sharpest criticism for one notable absence in the Congress manifesto — a pledge to reclaim approximately five lakh bighas of encroached land, which figures prominently in the BJP's own promises. He alleged that Congress had deliberately avoided the issue because "their core vote bank are those illegals who are occupying thousands of hectares of land belonging to the people of Assam."

At the Lakhimpur rally, Kharge had taken his own swipes at the ruling party, accusing the BJP-led government of rampant corruption and claiming it was using its "double engine" setup primarily to serve its own leaders and their families. He also alleged that Chief Minister Sarma had sidelined former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal following the 2021 elections, and accused the state government of fostering fear and attempting to divide communities along various lines.

The war of words marks a sharpening of political rhetoric in Assam as elections approach, with both sides now competing on near-identical welfare ground.