Himanta Sarma warns Jharkhand against ‘ghuspaithiye’, says Muslim population in Assam has reached 40%

In response, Congress reminds Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, also BJP’s Jharkhand election co-incharge, of his time campaigning in minority-dominated areas of Assam during 2024 polls.

Himanta Biswa Sarma on his two-day visit to Jharkhand | ANI

Guwahati: For Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, the increasing Muslim population in Assam is not merely a political issue, but a matter of “life and death”. Sarma, the BJP’s Jharkhand election co-incharge, Wednesday highlighted the “changing demography of Assam” due to the growing Muslim population, an issue that has been a driving force for him and the party’s electoral campaign across India.

Addressing reporters in Ranchi, Sarma said, “…Changing demography is a big issue for me. In Assam, Muslim population today has reached 40 percent. In 1951, it was 12 percent. We have lost many districts. This is not a political issue for me. It is a matter of life and death.”

Sarma is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand — to participate in the workers’ felicitation programmes and ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabhas’ celebrating the success of the party in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Sarma has often proclaimed and openly discussed the issue of illegal immigration while campaigning for the party in different states.

In Assam, Muslims — including indigenous Assamese Muslims, Hindi-speaking Muslims, and those of Bengali origin, the largest subgroup — constitute over 34 percent of the population, according to the 2011 Census.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi was quick to react when he reminded Sarma through a social media post — of his time campaigning in the minority-dominated areas of Assam during the parliamentary election.

Sarma had drawn huge crowds with his dance moves and theatrics in constituencies with substantial Muslim populations, from central Assam’s Nagaon to Darrang-Udalguri in the north.

Sharing images of Sarma’s campaign in the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat on 19 April, Gogoi wrote in a post on X, “Himanta Biswa Sarma seems to be suffering from amnesia in Ranchi. Only two months ago, he was seen dancing and singing in minority dominated areas of Assam. Clearly, it was not a matter of life and death when he wanted votes for BJP.”

The BJP-led NDA swept the Lok Sabha elections in Assam, bagging 11 of the 14 seats while the Congress won three. The BJP retained nine seats, the same as in the 2019 polls, while its allies, the regional United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), emerged victorious in one each.

Earlier on 4 June, soon after results were announced, Sarma summarised the mandate as the NDA having improved its overall vote share in Assam to nearly 46 percent — “a huge jump from 39 percent secured in the 2019 Lok Sabha, and 44 percent in the 2021 assembly elections.”

“This we have achieved despite the 40 percent minority population in the state,” Sarma had said.

Assam Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi also took to X, questioning Sarma’s politics.

“Not surprising that CM Himanta Biswa Sarma will go to the extent of distorting census data just to further his divisive communal agenda. Will his politics ever look beyond Hindus & Muslims? Will he talk about issues of inflation, unemployment, flood & erosion?” he wrote.

Referring to the issue of infiltration in Assam, Sarma had said that “detection and deportation” of illegal immigrants is a responsibility of the state government.

“Assam is a border state. I deal with ‘ghuspaithiye’ (infiltrators) every day. The infiltrators first come to Assam, West Bengal, and then proceed to Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. It is the responsibility of the BSF to check infiltrators when they cross the international border, but once they enter the state, it’s the duty of the state government to detect and deport them,” he told reporters at Ranchi.

In June last year, Sarma had lauded the draft delimitation proposal before its implementation, stating that it was for the “protection of the indigenous Assamese communities including the hill tribes and ethnic groups across Upper Assam, Lower Assam, Central Assam, Barak and Brahmaputra Valleys”.

In August last year, the Election Commission of India published the final delimitation order for Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam. The ruling BJP had hoped to see the electoral map of Assam changing with the redrawing of boundaries in different assembly and parliamentary constituencies as part of the delimitation process.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhari)