‘Congress’ political character is rooted in dynasty’: Himanta attacks APCC candidate list

A day after the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) released its list of candidates, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on March 4 launched a sharp attack on the party, alleging that its selections reflect “dynastic and family politics.”

Addressing a gathering, Sarma claimed that the Congress list is dominated by descendants of prominent political leaders and said the party continues to promote what he termed “hereditary politics.”

“Yesterday, the Assam Pradesh Congress released its list of candidates. If you analyse it, it becomes clear that the candidates have been selected based on dynasty and family politics,” he said.

“The son of Tarun Gogoi, the son of Bhumidhar Barman, the son of Hiteswar Saikia, and even the son of a Dhubri MP, if you look at it this way, the entire Congress list consists of descendants,” he alleged.

The Chief Minister said the Congress’s “political character” is to give tickets to children of established leaders, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) focuses on bringing individuals from ordinary and lower middle-class backgrounds into politics.

“In contrast, if you look at the BJP’s Rajya Sabha list, to whom did we give candidature? People like Taresh Gowalla and Jogen Mohan. Their parents are respected but were never in the political limelight. The BJP’s objective is to bring children from ordinary, lower middle-class and poor families into the political arena,” he said.

He further asserted that whether it is the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha or the upcoming Assembly list, the overwhelming majority, “around 99%” of BJP candidates come from middle-class and economically weaker sections.

“BJP’s character is to bring children from lower middle-class and poor families into politics. That is why we have ideological differences with Congress,” he added.