BGP to field candidates in all 14 seats to ‘counter’ BJP | Guwahati City News

GUWAHATI: Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BJP), a regional party of linguistic minorities in Assam, Sunday said that it would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from all seats to counter the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

“Both BJP and Congress are our enemies. They have cheated us in the last few years. We had last hope on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. We believed that he would take up our issues. But he is also a double standard, he speaks one thing and does others,” BGP working president Santanu Mukherjee said addressing a press conference at a city hotel here Sunday.

“The issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is yet to be addressed. The publication of the final NRC list left out over 19.6 lakh people – of which around 14 lakh are Hindus and Bengali Hindus. It shows that it is a tool to target Bengalis. The BJP which claims to be the champion of Hindus and their rights should first answer how Hindu Bengalis were omitted from the list. The figures prove that their main target was Bengalis,” Mukherjee said.

“Since the process of NRC was undertaken in Assam as per the Supreme Court’s directive, the Aadhaar numbers of citizens who have undergone biometrics at different NRC Seva Kendras in the last phase of verification have been blocked. Now even after the final list is out, the Aadhaar numbers/cards of 27 lakh residents of Assam continue to remain blocked/ inoperative, as a result of which such people cannot apply for government schemes and benefits and even take admission to educational institutes in the absence of valid Aadhaar cards,” Mukherjee also said.

“The BJP has also failed to address the issue of D-voters and detention camps. Notices from Foreigners’ Tribunals continue to be issued to the people of the Hindu Bengali community who have been lawfully residing in Assam before January 1, 1966. Such notices were also issued to the people who have been living here since 1922, 1932 and 1950,” he alleged.

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Recently, 14 people from Baksa district have been booked and sent to detention camp following a Foreigner Tribunal order, Mukherjee said.

Despite the Central government coming out with the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 to legitimise the settlement of persecuted Hindus in Assam, Bengali Hindus continue to be harassed by way of such notices from time to time, he also alleged.

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“Besides, the promises made to the families of the Dhola massacre victims (of 2018) by the government are yet to be fulfilled. Five innocent persons had lost their lives,” he further said.

“There are many MLAs from Hindu Bengalis in the state assembly and Ems in the autonomous councils. However, they have failed to raise the issues on the proper platform. We have lost faith in the BJP. Now we decided to fight the election,” the BGP leader said.

The BGP, which was formed in 2015, has decided to strengthen its organization in eight districts of the state and for it, they will launch a massive membership drive to enrol at least 5 lakh members before the upcoming polls.

He also added that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 is a meaningless exercise and the BJP government is trying to mislead the Hindu Bengalis through it. 

BGP held an executive meeting in the city on Sunday to decide the future course of action and to launch an election strategy for the upcoming poll. However, it will not be with the Congress-led United Opposition Forum.

“We will not support Congress or its United Opposition Forum. They have also cheated us. We will stand alone in the election,” he further said.

“We will show our strength. Without us they can’t form government,” he added.

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