Guwahati, February 10 The Assam Congress staged protests across the state on Tuesday against the alleged encroachment of over 3,900 acres of land by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family.
All district Congress committees in the state organized the protest program at their respective district headquarters.
On February 4, Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi had said that the party had conducted an investigation, which revealed shocking information. He had alleged that the CM and his family had acquired almost 12,000 acres (over 3,960 acres) of land across the state.
"Our demand is very simple. The CM must come clean about acquiring so much property. He claims that it was acquired through legal means. If so, then he should explain this to the people of Assam," said APCC Media and Communications Department Chairman Bedabrata Bora.
He said that the protests against Sarma will continue in the coming days until he explains the source of acquiring such a large piece of land.
"Did he acquire the land using his official power? How much more property has the CM acquired in Assam? We need to know all the details of this unnatural wealth," said Bora.
Earlier in the day, Sarma termed the allegations made by Congress leaders as "malicious," and said he had filed a defamation case against them worth Rs 500 crore.
Raising the slogan 'Deshotkoi Mami Dangor Nohoy' (maternal aunt is not bigger than the nation), the Congress demanded a thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged land-grabbing by the CM and his family. Sarma is often referred to as 'mama' (maternal aunt) by his followers.
The protests were held in Biswanath, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Tamulpur, Goalpara, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Udalguri, and Dhubri.
The assembly elections are due in the state in a few months.
