Guwahati, Dec 20: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Friday that the Congress leaders have been “involved in a conspiracy to create unrest” in Guwahati.
He told reporters here, “I do not know the exact reason but I have seen that whether it is Bhupen Borah, Ripun Borah or any other leaders of the Congress party – they have been conspiring to create unrest in Guwahati so that the police are forced to open fire. I was in Congress for more than two decades – however, I have not seen any such activities while I was in that party.”
CM Sarma further said that no political party should become protesters and occupy the streets. “I believe that political parties should not be involved in protests on streets and rather they should carry their protests in the ballot box. Following the election process, the leaders of political parties become MLAs, MPs and they take up people’s issues accordingly,” CM Sarma further said.
Notably, thousands gathered at the last rites of the deceased Congress party worker Mridul Islam in Assam’s Kamrup district on Thursday. The locals at Islam’s native village gathered in large numbers to bid adieu to the deceased Congress leader.
One of the villagers said, “It is hard to believe that Islam is no more. He was a lovely person. When needed, he used to extend help. We will miss him badly.” The 45-year-old Islam died on Wednesday after participating in a Congress protest march to Raj Bhawan in Guwahati.
The state unit of the Congress party has lodged a complaint against the local police, claiming that the police used excessive teargas shells which led to the passing away of Islam. Islam was a member of the Congress party’s State Congress Legal Cell.
Assam Congress General Secretary Bipul Gogoi said police lobbed teargas indiscriminately, affecting everyone in the vicinity, including elderly people, children, and individuals with respiratory conditions.
Diganta Barah, the Commissioner of Police in Guwahati, refuted the claims by Congress, stating that the cause of Islam’s death was yet unknown.
IANS