Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma (L) and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi.
Credit: PTI, X/@GauravGogoiAsm
Guwahati: The "comprehensive" reports of two inquiry commissions that highlighted the "demographic threats" leading to large-scale violence in 1983 could provide more fodder to politics in Assam in the run up to Assembly elections slated early next year, insiders in both ruling BJP and Opposition Congress believe.
The Opposition Congress MLAs walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday as the BJP-led government tabled the Justice TU Mehta "non-official" Judicial Commission inquiry report and distributed copies of the Tribhuvan Prasad Tewari Commission report (formed by the government) on the first day of the Winter Session. "Role" played by the Congress government and the administration during the 1983 violence was questioned by both the Commissions.
Congress claimed that BJP decided to release the 1983 massacre reports in order to divert public attention from its "failure" to meet the promises it made to the indigenous people such as granting Scheduled Tribe status to six more ethnic communities. BJP, on the other hand, says the reports "exposed the failures" of the Congress government to check large scale illegal migration from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the democratic threats it posed to the indigenous communities. Assam shares borders with Bangladesh.
"BJP has the courage, so we are making it public," CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters on Monday when asked why his government was making the reports public after 42 years. BJP and its allies, Asom Gana Parishad and UPPL have been in power in Assam since 2016. The Bodoland People's Front also recently rejoined the government. Congress and six other Opposition parties recently reunited to contest the 2026 polls against BJP together.
Politics of foreigners
Since 1980s or even before, the vexed problem of foreigners in Assam has always taken centrestage in election campaigns and the trend is likely to continue in the 2026 polls too.
BJP, which considers the Bengali-speaking Muslims as the main threat to indigenous communities, is likely to bank on the two inquiry reports to corner the Congress-led Opposition alliance.
"It's the BJP government which is trying to protect our land and people by carrying out evictions against the Bengali-speaking Muslims. We are trying to rectify the problems created by the Muslim appeasement policy of Congress," a BJP leader said.
BJP is trying to project both Congress-led alliance and Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF as "protectors of the foreigners" as it move towards its target to win the elections in Assam for the third straight term. Assembly elections are slated in March-April.