Guwahati, Sep 12 (PTI) Newly appointed AICC in-charge of Assam, Bhupesh Baghel, on Saturday alleged that the by-election to Nagaon Lok Sabha seat has been imposed upon the people of the constituency by the double-engine BJP government.
Addressing a press conference after a day-long meeting with party leaders and workers, Baghel said the “true character” of the double-engine government has been exposed in the last six months.
A by-election to the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency was necessitated after the then Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the party to join the BJP in March this year before the assembly elections in Assam.
The former Chhattisgarh chief minister said that as long as Bordoloi was with the Congress, he served as an MP, but after joining the BJP, he became an MLA.
Baghel said nobody changes political parties merely to move from being an MP to becoming an MLA.
“There must have been some compulsion; otherwise, no one becomes ‘disloyal’ without a reason,” he said.
Baghel asked whether Bordoloi wanted to hide something or protect someone by switching parties.
“Neither he (Bordoloi) nor Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would tell people the reason… It is because of their mistake and the mystery surrounding the matter that the people of Nagaon have once again been burdened and inconvenienced by a bypoll,” he alleged.
Baghel alleged that the BJP candidate for the bypoll was a former district commissioner of Nagaon who had participated in a meeting of the Election Commission while still holding a government position, assigning responsibilities to officers and employees.
“After all the arrangements for the by-election had been made, the officer resigned from the post, following which the BJP projected him as its candidate,” Baghel said.
“This was an extremely serious and shameful matter. Earlier, the BJP used to only steal votes, but now it has openly stolen the entire government system,” the Congress leader alleged.
The BJP has named former IAS officer Debashish Sharma as its candidate for the Nagaon bypoll.
Baghel said the Congress candidate for the contest will be announced soon.
Expressing concern over the recent flood situation in Assam, Baghel said that during monsoon, the Brahmaputra floods cause a natural disaster every year and result in widespread damage.
This year’s floods in Upper Assam, particularly in Sivasagar, Jorhat and adjoining districts, are, however, a completely man-made disaster caused by illegal mining allegedly carried out with government patronage, he said.
The Congress leader alleged that illegal mining is being carried out under the protection of the ruling establishment, with miners and their wealthy associates making profits amounting to thousands of crores of rupees, while ordinary poor people had to pay the price, with their homes and properties being destroyed.
Baghel alleged that while seeking votes, the double-engine government promises double benefits, but the real picture becomes evident when a poor person’s hut is washed away in floods and household provisions, clothes and other belongings are destroyed.
He further alleged that the proposal to reduce the boundaries of Kaziranga’s eco-sensitive zone was also part of a conspiracy to benefit the government’s wealthy corporate associates and illegal miners.
He said soaring prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas, sugar and edible oil have severely affected ordinary people.
Farmers are unable to obtain the chemical fertilisers required for cultivation and, even when they do, they are forced to pay exorbitant prices, Baghel said.
“The government’s alleged misgovernance and its utter failure to handle the flood situation will emerge as major issues in the by-election,” he said.
Baghel said the mindset of people across the country has changed and the BJP has become “extremely apprehensive”.
He said that besides strengthening the organisation, the day-long meetings discussed the burning issues facing the state, the Silchar Municipal Corporation elections and the forthcoming Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election.
He thanked the people of Assam and the party leadership.
Noting that Assam is not a new state for him, Baghel said that ever since he served as an observer during the 2021 Assembly elections, he has remained in touch with leaders, workers and mediapersons in the northeastern state. PTI DG ACD
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