"I would have shoved them out": Assam CM on newly inducted Congress leader's statement on Tinsukia, Sivasagar

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday, January 11 slammed Congress, over a statement by newly inducted Congress leader Rezaul Karim Sarkar regarding Tinsukia and Sivasagar. The Chief Minister alleged that the remark amounted to an open declaration of the party’s intent to alter the demographic character of key Upper Assam districts.

Responding to Sarkar’s statement, reportedly made from a Congress platform, Sarma accused the party of promoting an agenda that threatens Assam’s social and cultural fabric. “The statement made today from the Congress platform clearly indicates that they have openly declared their intention to bring people from Bangladesh and turn districts like Sivasagar and Tinsukia into ‘Miya’ lands,” the Chief Minister said.

Sarma further took aim at Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, noting that he was present at the event where the remark was allegedly made. “Gaurav Gogoi was present when this statement was made. He should have protested against it,” the Chief Minister asserted.

Expressing his strong personal disapproval, Sarma added that such remarks would not be tolerated in his presence. “If someone had made such a statement in front of me, I would have shoved them out", he added.

Earlier in the day, following Rezaul Sarkar's statement on Sivasagar and Tinsukia, Raijor Dal chief and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi on Sunday, January 11 reacted sharply to the controversial remark made by Sarkar, who joined the Congress party earlier in the day, stating that he would “turn Sivasagar into Dhubri and Dhubri into Sivasagar.” Gogoi warned that any deliberate attempt to provoke social or political discord would be strongly opposed.

Responding to the statement, Akhil Gogoi said that if the remark was made unintentionally, it could be viewed differently. However, he asserted that if the comment was deliberate, he would oppose it “in the strongest possible terms.”