Assam polls: stand against immigrants is BJP's trump card

QUICK PILL

The strategy

• BJP has aligned with AGP and BPF in Assam

• Its aim is to bring together various ethnic groups, except Bengali speaking Muslims

• It\'s CM candidate Sarbananda Sonowal has been raking up the immigration issue

More in the story

• What is the possible flipside of this strategy?

• What\'s the Congress\' response?

The elections to the 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam will be held in 2 phases next month.

After its stellar show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, where it bagged 7 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP fancies its chances in the northeastern state.

It recently entered into an alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad, a regional outfit born out of the Assam movement and the BPF, the ethnic Bodo outfit, to boost its chances. This entails parting with over 40 seats in the 126 member Assembly.

Read: BJP, AGP come together for Assam #AssemblyElections. But creases remain

This seems to be a show of pragmatism for a party which, till recently, was claiming that it would win a 2/3rd majority.

Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Sports Minister and BJP's face in Assam, has been raking the issue of illegal immigrants. In a recent interview, he claimed that the aim of the alliance with AGP and BPF is to counter the protectors of the Bengali speaking Muslim immigrants, which the BJP claims have entered Assam illegally. "Our target is the alliance of the AIUDF and the Congress. These two parties have emerged as dangerous forces, designing to destroy the identity of the people living both in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys," he said.

His utterances have been in line with that of other BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the same interview, Sonowal also said that BJP wants to protect the interests of the greater Assamese society, which includes Marwaris, Bengalis, Punjabis, Nepalese among others. Sonowal also mentioned how the BJP was reaching out to the indigenous Muslims whose interests were in danger due to the influx of the Muslims from Bangladesh.

BJP's strategy

"This strategy is primarily to create a fear psychosis among all the groups so that they realise the danger posed by Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF, which may emerge as the king maker in the forthcoming elections," says a senior BJP leader, who has been closely associated with the state.

Siddhartha Bhattacharya, the former President of the BJP's state unit and now a national spokesperson of the party on northeast issues, looks at it differently.

He says that when the BJP tried to establish its roots in Assam in the 1980s, it started with the Hindi speakers since most Assamese speakers were involved in the Assam movement. "The other groups initially formed our support base in the state," Bhattacharya says. He adds that the party is now very serious about reaching out to other ethnic groups like the Tiwa and Rabhas. "The fact that the party is projecting Sonowal, who belongs to an ethnic minority group, shows how serious we are about reaching out to the indigenous ethnic minorities in the state," he says.

Our target is the 'alliance' of the Congress and AIUDF, says BJP CM face Sarbananda Sonowal

The Congress dismisses the BJP claims. "Even the Prime Minister talks about pluralism while the cadre of his party are out to divide and polarise the society. So what Sonowal is saying is nothing new. The people of Assam know the designs of the BJP," Gaurav Gogoi, the young Congress MP from Assam told Catch, while adding that the BJP was trying the age old tactic of throwing meat at religious places to foment trouble.

"We didn't allow it to get out of hand, but there have been many attempts," Gogoi pointed out. "The pluralistic, multi-cultural Assamese society will reject the divisive politics of the BJP," he added.

Also read: BJP's "Hindu migrant vs Muslim migrant" policy lands it in trouble in Assam

In an ethnically fractured society like Assam, the indigenous people and several tribes have been at loggerheads with the so called 'outsiders'. But for some this means Bengali speaking Muslims, for others could be the 'tea tribes' - adivasis from Jharkhand who were brought to the state as tea garden workers.

Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain how the alliance will work on the ground.

In an earlier report, Catch had written that indigenous Assamese groups like the Assam Sahitya Sabha, and Bodo groups like the All Bodo Students Union, were not happy with some of the policies of the Central government.

BJP's initial support base in Assam in 1980s were Hindi speaking people

One major bone of contention is the plan to allow Hindu migrants who have crossed over from Bangladesh citing persecution, to stay in the country, paving way for their citizenship. BJP's alliance partner AGP has also been against this move.

But Bhattacharya sees a conspiracy in the protests by the groups in the Brahmaputra Valley. "Why are there no protests in the Barak Valley where most Hindu migrants reside? Brahmaputra valley has a very miniscule population," he says.

Edited by Aditya Menon

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