By Debopam Purkayastha

Guwahati, March 24: The wind of the last Assembly elections of 2016 is not in Assam this time. It is not seen that the Modi storm was also the wind of change in Assam in the last election, and this time the wind of change is blowing. But this time the opposite wind is blowing. 

The ruling party is in turmoil and anti-incumbency. Elections in the state will be held in three phases on March 26, April 1 and 6 for 126 seats in the state. Counting of votes on 2 May.

Many believe that this time there will be a three-way contest in the state. On the one hand, the ruling party BJP and its ally Assam Gana Parishad, on the other hand, the grand alliance of Congress, AIUDF and BPF and the newly formed AJP and Akhil Gogoi raijor dal.

BJP promise

In 2016, the BJP promised the people of Assam that if the party came to power, it would set up small and medium enterprises. They further assured, “Our main goal is to make Assam the top state in the country.”

The party also demanded that a firm and lasting solution be found to the problem of Bangladeshi infiltration, but no one today can say for sure whether the Bangladeshi problem has really been solved.

Paper mills issue

Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections, Narendra Modi assured the people at an election rally in the Kalinagar area of Barak Valley in Assam that the two closed paper mills would be revived and the Center and the state government would jointly support the two paper mills to reopen. Many have now started questioning that promise. But in 2021 when Narendra Modi again came in Karimganj district PM Modi fully silent on the Paper Mills issue.

The paper mill near Panchgram in Hailakandi district and the Nagaon paper mill at Jagiroad have been closed since October 2015 and March 2016, respectively.

 Paper mill workers have been waiting for their salaries for more than three years. After the complete closure of these two paper mills, more than 61 HPC workers died without treatment.

NRC unrest

It is a fact that during the tenure of this BJP, the NRC of the citizens caused great unrest in Assam. 

The final NRC, published on August 31, 2019, excluded about 1.9 million people in Assam. Which is less than half of the 4 million dropped from the previous draft list. 

This NRC has caused great panic in the state, created unnecessary confusion and great uneasiness among the people of Assam, the image of India has been tarnished internationally and many have not forgotten it.

Citizenship Amendment Act agenda of Congress

Many are saying that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) may do a lot of harm to the BJP in Assam. According to many, CAA is against the indigenous identity, language and cultural history of the state The protesters then demanded the repeal of the law. 

But the government put their demands aside and passed the bill in Parliament, which could do a lot of damage to the BJP in Assam.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has always spoken of a corruption-free Assam wherever he goes, but in reality, rural development, various recruitment test scandals and other things in Assam.

Many feel that the party’s dissatisfaction with the appointment of candidates has pushed the BJP far behind. Many are now enjoying the battle between young and old BJP workers, which started in Silchar and has begun to have an impact on the whole of Assam. Stands. In Silchar BJP denied their sitting MLA Dilip Kumar Paul to ticket.

Although various polls have put the BJP ahead of informing the government, Modi’s party is not at easy in its mind.