New Delhi: Whether it be the state administration or the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has maintained an iron grip on both since assuming office in May 2021. But Sarma, who is seen as Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s right-hand man and the BJP’s point person in the Northeast, now finds himself engaged in fire-fighting on multiple fronts, within the party and otherwise.
Disquiet within Assam BJP flared up in August after a police probe into the death of a party functionary, allegedly by suicide, blew the lid off a ‘cash-for-jobs’ case involving individuals linked to the ruling BJP. Joint Commissioner (Guwahati) Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar confirmed to ThePrint that five arrests have been made in connection with both cases.
With the Opposition Congress mounting an attack on the Sarma-led BJP government over the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case on the one hand, sources in the state BJP told ThePrint that party leaders too expressed shock and concern over the developments in the presence of the chief minister during a meeting of the Assam BJP core group Monday.
Sarma, said sources, assured party leaders of an impartial probe into the matter and a better mechanism to screen individuals before they are inducted into the party.
State minister Ranjit Dutta told ThePrint that the “suicide (of Indrani Tahbildar) has affected the party’s image”, adding that the party needs a “better system to vet workers and a mechanism to deal with such issues”. Fellow state minister Jayanta Mallabaruah added that the “government and law enforcement agencies are working to crack the case and those involved will be punished — there is no doubt about that”.
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Tahbildar’s death & ‘cash-for-jobs’ case
Indrani Tahbildar, the 44-year-old general secretary of BJP’s kisan morcha who contested assembly elections in 2011 on a BJP ticket, was found dead at her home in Guwahati on 11 August. Police suspect that her death was caused by an overdose of sleeping pills.
The five individuals arrested in connection with her death and the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case that surfaced subsequently have been identified as Anurag Chaliha, Ashim Chakraborty, Diban Deka, Rekhanta Das and Trishna Sharma.
Chaliha, a member of the kisan morcha, was the first to be arrested in connection with Tahbildar’s death. It was during a search of his home that police found scores of admit cards for government recruitment exams, which led to a probe into the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case.
Deka, then a member of the BJP kisan morcha, was expelled by the party and arrested in 2020 for his alleged role in the Assam Police SI recruitment exam paper leak case. The prime accused in the paper leak case, he surrendered before Chandmari police last month after his name surfaced in connection with Tahbildar’s death and the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case.
Das, meanwhile, was relieved of his duties as Nalbari district president of the kisan morcha after his name cropped up in the two cases, while Chakraborty was formerly affiliated with the party, according to reports. Sharma, a joint secretary of the kisan morcha, was the fifth person to be arrested. The party expelled her soon after her arrest Saturday.
The police investigation took a whole new turn when one Shanta Deka filed an FIR against Diban Deka and Anurag Chaliha following their arrest last month, accusing them of taking Rs 13 lakh on the pretext of a government job.
In the course of the investigation, police also recorded the statements of at least 25 job aspirants who claimed that they were victims of the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case, and that cash was demanded from them in exchange for a government job at a BJP office.
Intimate pictures controversy
Meanwhile, reports also suggest that days before her death, intimate photos of Tahbildar with a BJP leader had surfaced on social media, along with audio clips of her conversation with another BJP functionary. Party sources said that Deka and Chaliha claimed during interrogation that a BJP leader from Jorhat had circulated the pictures in question.
Against this backdrop, an audio clip reportedly surfaced of a conversation between Tahbildar and a BJP functionary in which former Assam BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharya’s name was mentioned. Bhattacharya then wrote a letter to state BJP president Bhabesh Kalita, alleging that a conspiracy had been hatched to dent his image.
In the letter, he wrote: “I’ve been selflessly serving the party since its initial days, but over the last few years, I’ve started noticing that no major duties are given to me. It is sad that many conspiracies are being hatched within the party against senior workers like me.”
He then alleged that this was being done by a “section of rootless, so-called BJP workers who are not aligned with the party’s ideology or policies”.
“The recent incident in which my name was dragged is part of that same conspiracy to destroy senior and old party workers,” he wrote.
Bhattacharya told ThePrint Wednesday that the party “needs to do course correction”, which according to him is what he brought to the attention of state BJP president Kalita.
‘This calls for serious introspection’
Expressing concern over how the alleged involvement of BJP functionaries in Tahbildar’s death and the ‘cash-for-jobs’ case could dent the party’s image, party sources told ThePrint that these issues were discussed during a meeting of the Assam BJP core group held Monday to discuss delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in the state and preparations for the general elections slated for next year.
“In the core group meeting, a discussion was held on these issues in great detail. It is very sad that this case has created a misleading impression in the minds of voters,” said a BJP MP from Assam who is also a member of the state BJP core group.
“What message are we sending to voters if members of our own party are involved in a scam and another member is accused of leaking intimate pictures of two others? This calls for serious introspection. We are losing our grip on power in the state,” he lamented.
Another BJP leader, a former state minister, said Chief Minister Sarma suggested during the meeting of the core group that a mechanism be put into place to ensure that those inducted into the party are thoroughly vetted. “But every decision is made with his (Sarma’s) consent. Responsibility should be fixed at the top. There is no power left with the state president or (Assam BJP) general secretary (organisation),” he added.
Adding to Sarma’s troubles, senior party leader and former Union minister Rajen Gohain hinted last month at a ‘tacit understanding’ between the chief minister and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal. Gohain had resigned as chairman of Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation in August this year to protest the delimitation of Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, which he claimed favoured Ajmal’s party.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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