BJP is committed to ensuring error-free NRC: Sarbananda Sonowal
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Sarbanands Sonowal is confident that his government’s performance will ensure it will return to power with an improved tally in the upcoming assembly elections
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal is confident that his government’s performance will ensure it will return to power with an improved tally in the upcoming assembly elections. He believes the unrest over the discrepancies in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the opposition to the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, have died down, and the concerns that still exist in some pockets will not adversely affect the BJP’s poll prospects.
In an interview to HT, Sonowal, popularly known as the “jatiya nayak” (community hero) for his activism as a student leader with the All Assam Students Union and for the role he played in getting the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act repealed by the Supreme Court in 2005, said the BJP is fighting to persevere Assamese identity and ensure freedom from the threats posed by illegal intruders.
Edited excerpts:
Why does the performance of your government give you the confidence of returning to power?
Our idea is to protect the people of Assam. We want to make a self-reliant Assam, and in the last five years, we’ve worked with honesty. We gave everyone a chance to move ahead and live with dignity; everybody’s rights were protected; all communities were brought together.
Peace and security have been strengthened on the ground. We have ensured a corruption-free administration, and restored the people’s faith in the government. For example, two members of the Assam Pubic Service Commission are still in jail for taking money for appointments. When the Congress was in power, students were in a bad state; they used to tell their parents that even if we complete studies, we don’t have the money [to pay bribes] for jobs. Today, all jobs are provided on merit. This transparency and accountability is our victory.
In the next five years, we want to take Assam to greater heights. The people of the state are happy, and they want to bring back the BJP government so that they can get more benefits.
In your manifesto, you have promised 100,000 government jobs by March 2022, and another 800,000 in the private sector. The 2020 government estimates pegged the unemployment rate at 11%-12%. How are you going to provide these jobs?
Jobs will be created in all the sectors, particularly the petroleum sector, agriculture, and the veterinary sectors. We have a scheme called the Chief Minister’s Samagra Gram Unnayan Yojana. Under this scheme, we have started work in eight mission modes. There is a lot of scope for generating jobs in many areas. (The scheme aims to double farm incomes and to offer livelihood, logistical assistance, and community support).
The BJP is up against an opposition coalition that has the Congress and the AIUDF. How will this alliance impact the elections, especially in the Barrack valley?
One has to first look at how the AIUDF emerged. People know how the Congress ruled the state, and how it allowed intruders space to create its own vote bank. During the anti-intruders agitation, (Assam Movement) over 800 people who were protesting were killed.
They (Congress government) even brought the brought the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act, 1983 to protect illegal intruders. We fought a legal battle, and after the Supreme Court stayed that order, Ajmal emerged. Fourteen fundamental groups came together to save illegal intruders -- that is how the AIUDF came into existence.
What do the people make of this alliance? What does it signal? It is clear that if they come to power, they will threaten Indian people in Assam and give space to illegal entrants. We call their alliance an unholy one because anyone who protects illegal intruders cannot have the best interest of the country at heart. That is why people in the state don’t want to make them win.
How will the BJP face the opposition to CAA and NRC? You have also mentioned the need for a corrected NRC -- will that assuage concerns ?There were many factual errors in the list ; the state government has decided that only Indian citizens should be in the list. We are committed to making an error-free NRC. As far as CAA is concerned, there is no concern anymore; people were misled into believing that it will disenfranchise millions, but none of that has happened. The Congress, by saying it will not allow its implementation, are engaging in doublespeak. Our leadership has already said its a central law that will be implemented.
The condition of tea garden workers has become a talking point in these elections.
Rahul Gandhi needs to answer this: what are the real problems of the people who work in the tea gardens? Look at the changes we have brought about in the last five years;we’ve made roads, provided water and power, and started providing money from central and state government schemes through DBT (direct benefit transfer). We have hiked the wages, apart from providing facilities for health and education. Self-help groups for women have been offered financial assistance; there are scholarships for students. Can the Congress give an account of what they did during their rule? People never saw the Congress leadership here in times of need, whether it was during the floods or the pandemic.
What impact will the newer political formations -- the Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the Raijor Dal, which are being seen as a anti-BJP -- have on you vote share?
They will not have any impact on the ground. Their network is not strong. People have seen the BJP perform; why will they put their faith in newer political parties that have just emerged?
There is speculation of a tussle between you and Himanta Biswa Sarma for the CM’s post.
This is a media creation. My interest is to have a BJP government in Assam. I am a committed party person, and want the party to come to power. We work as a team, and the stories of our tussle are made up by the media.
