Congress sounds poll bugle in Assam, claims people will put Himanta in jail for 'corruption'
Jul 17, 2025
ASSAM: The Congress virtually launched its campaign for next year's Assam Assembly election, as its top leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi attacked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, claiming that he will be put in jail for corruption by the people of the state.
The party also reminded people that Sarma entered politics through the Congress, and termed him a person who 'ran away' from it and has now been made the CM by the BJP in its decades-long quest to grab power in this state.
The leaders also exhorted party workers to be vigilant to ensure that a correct voter list is used for the polls, alleging that the BJP and EC have been working together and had 'stole' electoral victory from the opposition in Maharashtra while conspiring to do so in Bihar too.
Addressing a party workers' meet at Chaygaon, around 40 km from Guwahati, Gandhi said, "The CM thinks he is the 'raja' and is busy 24 hours a day handing over your wealth, land to Adani and Ambani. But if you listen to his voice carefully, look at his face closely on TV, fear is writ large.
"He knows that the fearless Congress workers will put him in jail," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha asserted.
Claiming that the CM and his family will be held accountable for their corruption, Gandhi said, "The Congress won't have to do it (put Sarma in jail). The youth, workers, farmers, people of all communities and religions know how corrupt he is, and they will do it.
Ahead of the event here, Sarma said in an X post that Gandhi had made the same assertion in a closed-door party meeting earlier in the day in Guwahati and expressed "best wishes" for the Congress leader.
He, however, did not elaborate on how he came to know Gandhi's comment.
Kharge, addressing the meet, also took a jibe at the chief minister and said, "The BJP had been trying to form government here for decades, but were not able to do so. It was only after borrowing a member of us and making him the chief minister, they could form their own government.
Sarma was a minister in the Congress government in Assam before he switched to the BJP in 2015.
"The man who ran away from the Congress is now the chief minister of Assam," Kharge added.
The Congress president criticised Sarma for his recent remarks that people of the state should rear pigs to save their lands from people of a certain religion.
"The CM is spreading venom with such remarks. The law and order is under you, and you are saying such things," he said.
Alleging that the BJP dispensation in the state is corrupt, Kharge said, "Those who have wronged people will be sent to jail. They should repair prisons now, as they will have to stay there.
He claimed that people in Assam were being "threatened in the garb of detecting illegal immigrants", and would teach a lesson to the BJP-led government in next year's election.
On eviction drives, Kharge said that if the Congress forms a government in the state, it will rebuild the houses and pay compensation to those affected.
He also took a swipe at the BJP over a recent controversy in the state over allocation of Gir cows.
Kharge said, "I had heard that they are cow worshippers, but they turned out to be cow thieves here.
The media is also being threatened and though some may step back due to such fear tactics, those who are not afraid will stand by the people, he asserted.
Kharge said that if the Congress is voted to power, it will guarantee education for children, jobs for youth in Assam and a maximum wage for tea garden workers.
He also claimed that the Dalits, SC, ST and OBC communities have to be on alert, or else BJP government at the Centre will take away their reservations.
Alleging that the EC and the BJP are working together, Gandhi claimed that the saffron party won the Maharashtra assembly polls by 'cheating' through voter list revision.
He alleged that one crore voters, all in favour of the BJP and its allies, were added to the electoral roll within a four-month gap between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections last year, resulting in the Congress and its allies losing the state polls.
Gandhi claimed that the same tactic is being tried in Bihar and "names of poor people, workers, Congress voters, RJD voters are being deleted. They will try the same tactics in Assam. Our responsibility is to ensure that they cannot do it."
Taking a swipe at the media, Gandhi said, "I used to call the media our 'friend', but they are not anymore. They are not revealing the truth, but only showing Adani, Ambani, CM, Modi and Shah."
Gandhi, however, asserted that this will not help, as the people know the truth and the Congress will sweep the polls in Assam next year.
He congratulated the new state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi for starting their work already, and said people will start seeing the results soon.
Gandhi alleged that just as in Assam, land is being taken away across the country from people and given to a few industrialists.
He also claimed that there are two Hindustans now: one of a few billionaires who host lavish weddings, and the other of common people burdened with tax and inflation.
"There is a fight of ideologies in the country; the hatred and violence of the RSS versus the truth and non-violence of the Congress," he said.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, "Modi visited five countries in five days, but he could not find two hours to come to strife-torn Manipur.
He claimed that the people have to come together to 'save' the Constitution.
