BJP terms 'Assam Sanmilita Nagarik Abhibartan' a political masquerade; calls out Akhil Gogoi and Lurinjyoti Gogoi's 'political surrender to Congress'

Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 7 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Assam Pradesh, has described the recent 'Assam Sanmilita Nagarik Abhibartan' held at the Pragjyotish Cultural Complex in Machkhowa as a "politically orchestrated" exercise aimed at "derailing" state's ongoing development and industrial progress under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In a statement issued from the party's state headquarters, BJP spokesperson Ranjib Kumar Sharma said that a section of political leaders and left-leaning intellectuals appeared to be intentionally creating public confusion using false narratives and misleading information to serve their own political interests. He stated that the so-called citizen transformation movement was merely an extension of this agenda.
Sharma alleged that by opposing the government's eviction drives aimed at removing encroachments from government lands, forest areas, and Vaishnavite sattra property, the assembly had effectively extended tacit support to what he described as aggressive land encroachment by "Miya Muslims," which, he claimed, pose a grave threat to Assam's social, cultural, economic, and political landscape.
The BJP spokesperson also pointed out that no mention was made during the event of the large-scale encroachments that had reportedly taken place during the regimes of former Congress Chief Ministers Hiteswar Saikia and Tarun Gogoi.
He cited that, under their administrations, settlers of suspected Bangladeshi origin had illegally occupied over 15,000 bighas of land belonging to more than 900 sattras across the state. Instead of addressing this history, Sharma claimed, the organisers had focused on distorting facts related to recent eviction measures in an attempt to mislead the public.
Sharma further commented on remarks made during the event by Raijor Dal president and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi and Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi. He said both leaders had openly expressed willingness to ally with the Congress Party in the upcoming Assembly elections, even if their own parties received a limited share of seats.
According to Sharma, such statements reflected a calculated political compromise driven by ambition, rather than ideological conviction.
He added that this apparent alignment with the Congress,a party historically associated with "suppressing" the Assam Movement and the deaths of 855 Assamese youths amounted to a betrayal of the regional and nationalist principles that both leaders had once claimed to uphold.
Sharma remarked that the decision to embrace the Congress, which had inflicted long-standing trauma on thousands of Assamese families during the six-year-long agitation, disrespected the sacrifices made during that period and diminished the identity of the Assamese people.
The BJP spokesperson also cast doubt on the intentions of the event's key organisers, including Dr Hiren Gohain, Paresh Malakar, and Abdul Mannan. He said these individuals had consistently opposed the Assam Movement and had openly supported the cause of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Given their history, Sharma suggested that the underlying motives behind the event required no further explanation. (ANI)