Sipajhar (Assam), March 28 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday criticised the Congress and alleged that rampant corruption was taking place in providing government jobs during the rule of the grand old party in the state.
Addressing an election rally in support of BJP MLA and its Sipajhar candidate Paramananda Rajbongshi, Sarma said his government had provided 1.65 lakh jobs in the last five years and promised to provide two lakh more government employment in the next term.
"We have provided jobs to 1.65 lakh youths. Can anyone name a Congress CM who provided one lakh jobs without any payment? If anyone can, I will leave politics. I challenge Gaurav Gogoi and Binanda Saikia to state during whose tenure such a large number of youths were employed in Assam," he said.
Former BJP MLA Binanda Kumar Saikia is the Congress candidate from Sipajhar.
The BJP had promised to provide one lakh government jobs every year in Assam during the campaigning for the 2021 assembly polls, but later clarified that the figure was for the entire five-year tenure.
"During the Congress tenure, a bribe of Rs 2 lakh had to be paid for even Anganwadi jobs. This time, we will provide two lakh government jobs," Sarma said.
"Can the Congress say that they will provide jobs to two lakh youths in Assam? If by chance they provide jobs to a few, then one will have to pay a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore," he claimed.
The CM further questioned the Congress slogan of creating a new "great Assam" after the election results.
"The Congress is saying they will create a new great Assam. With whom are you going to create this new Assam? Is it with the Bangladeshi Miyas who have recently arrived? We do not need your new great Assam," he added.
'Miya' is originally a derogatory term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, and non-Bengali-speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting the term as a gesture of defiance.
Sarma said, "In the last five years, we worked in such a way that from Garukhuti to Goalpara and Lumding to Uriamghat, we taught the Bangladeshi Miyas a valuable lesson. We made them understand that Assam is for Assamese and India is for Indians. There is no place for the Bangladeshi Miyas."
The Assam government has created a "new atmosphere" of trust and belief in the state with the support of indigenous Hindus and Muslims, he added.
"We worked to protect the land and the community. We freed 1.5 lakh bighas of land from the occupation of the Bangladeshi Miyas. I promise you that if the BJP comes to power this time, we will recover five lakh bighas of land from the Bangladeshi Miyas," Sarma said.
The CM also said a few days ago, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal reportedly made a statement that the Miyas would break the backbone of the Assamese community.
"In the last five years, we have broken the hands and legs of the Bangladeshi Miyas. In the next five years, we will break their backbone. We will not allow them to live peacefully in Assam. We will create such a situation that they will not be able to live in peace," the BJP leader said.
The Assam Assembly elections for 126 constituencies will take place on April 9, and the votes will be counted on May 4.
The BJP-led coalition is seeking a third consecutive term in power. This will be the first assembly election after the delimitation exercise, which was conducted in 2023.
