Discourses From the East
A Quick Recap:
An interactive website was launched focusing solely on Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family. The website, launched in a presser in Guwahati by Congress on February 4th, is claimed to act as a platform for anyone who knows land grabbing or scams by Sarma family.
Just a few hours after its launch, the website named whoishbs.com witnessed disruption and the ruling BJP came out with a mockery of it.
CM Sarma didn’t delay to declare framing civil and criminal defamation cases against Congress leadership present in the presser, namely Jitender Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupesh Baghel, Debabrat Saikia. CM Sarma also termed allegations of these sorts as ‘Hit and Run’ and affirmed that this tactics is no more viable. Sarma also challenged the Congress to prove them in the court of law if any of the allegations are true.
What Are the Allegations :
- Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s family had grabbed around 12,000 bighas of land across the state. This amounts to over 3,960 acres.
- There are 17 companies owned by his family.
- He has given 40,000 bighas of land to Adanis, Ambanis and Patanjali.
- There is HBS Tax on every goods and items that contractors give to him for awarding projects
Moreover, the Congress also highlighted Sarma misbehaving journalists on multiple occasions, his failure to provide ST status to 6 communities of Assam to add a few.
The Takeaways
- Defensive By Appearing Aggressive To Shield Irritation?
Gaurav Gogoi came out with a counter attack after Sarma threatened defamation case.
“It is plain to see Himanta Biswa Sarma has got scared by our press conference today. Soon the details of his corruption and wealth will be made public in every village of Assam. If he has courage he should fight us in the court of public opinion instead of seeking refuge”
—Gaurav posted on X.
Counter-attack is amongst the many defense tactics that politicians are often resorted to. Did Sarma applied the same?
A day after the presser when journalists asked Sarma about the allegations, he was seen totally avoiding it. Instead of commenting on the allegations, Sarma resorted to counter allegations that the Rajiv Bhawan (Assam Congress HQ in Guwahati) has turned out to be the place of Anti-Assamese activities. What are these anti Assamese activities are not clear though. The CM left it for subjective interpretations. Sarma also reaffirmed his allegation of Gaurav Gogoi’s Pakistan links. He asked the journalists to question gaurav how many bank accounts he and his family has in Pakistan. Sarma also said that this a hint he has given to media out of a broader investigation against Gaurav Gogoi
However, the recent rhetorics that Sarma has intensified, some clues can be taken—
i) the CM may have hinted that the Rajiv Bhawan is full of Miyas (the East Bengal origin Muslims in Assam)
ii) the Congress and its office is a hub of pro-Pakistani activities
iii) the Congress always plans how to uplift the Miyas in Assam
iv) Congress’s main aim is to hand over assam’s political harness to the Miyas etc, etc…
Sarma also stated that nobody browses websites now a days, it is the era of Apps while alleging that who developed the website hacked it. He also said in Hindi that he has thousands of close associates in Congress.
Well, this opens up a more intriguing question—Did his close associates inside Congress manipulated the website and disrupted it? Nobody has a clue yet. Moroever, why were his close associates not successful in preventing the launch of the website? Because no well wisher of Sarma would like to see a website dedicated to expose CM Sarma and his family’s scams (as the website claims) where anyone can expose Sarma and family.
It is more than clear that even if Sarma has many close associates within Congress, which he has claimed several times, the website is going to disturb him.
2. When will the episode of ‘Gaurav Gogoi-Pakistan Link’ Reach Climax?
It has been a year now since Gaurav Gogoi’s Pakistan link was flagged by CM Sarma. Sarma was supposed to unveil the truth in details in September, but nothing substantial came out. CM Sarma has another date—8th February. Assam still awaits for the reality to come out—was Gaurav Gogoi a mere visitor to Pakistan under diplomatic visa or he and his wife have hidden agenda with the ‘enemy nation’ as Sarma has always said.
3. Farcical Claims By Congress and Opposition?
This is not the first time Gaurav Gogoi and Congress have raised the alleged land scams by CM Sarma and his wife and they are not the only ones to raise this matter. Opposition leader like Akhil Gogoi, Lurinjyoti Gogoi have also raised similar allegations in the past. Moreover, some local media outlets also revealed alleged land scams by Sarma and his wife found in their investigations.
However, no such allegation has been put under investigation yet and court hasn’t taken any suo motu case yet. But there has been defamation cases filed by CM Sarma’s wife against individuals, journalists and media outlets who were involved in covering the matter.
4. Will Land Scam Allegation of CM’s Family Become Opposition’s Hook Points For the Election?
Congress’s message is loud and clear— it will try to heat up the issue to the point of boiling so that the campaign discourses revolve around it. Congress led out protests on the streets of Guwahati and other few places in the Jalukbari constituency. The slogan “দেশতকৈ মামী ডাঙৰ নহয়” ( Mami is no greater than our land) clearly targeting CM Sarma’s wife. And its resonance could be felt when Akhil Gogoi claimed today (5th February) that he personally has proof of CM Sarma’s wife grabbing thousands of bighas of land in Assam. Akhil was addressing the media in a programme where Gyanashree Bora joined Raijor Dal after resigning her job of a college faculty.
However, it remains to be seen whether opposition can sing in unison. The past experiences and experiments are not all
yielding for the unity in opposition. But it remains to be seen.