Guwahati, April 28: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has refuted Opposition Congress’ allegation of BJP-backed goons attacking the convoy of senior Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi’s convoy at Dhing in Nagaon district on Sunday, stating that the attack took place in a minority-inhabited area and not in a BJP stronghold.
Speaking to mediapersons, Sarma said the “BJP does not have a presence in the area where the Congress MP’s convoy was attacked. There is no booth committee in that area either. This only proves that even people from the minority community, who had earlier supported the Congress, are now fed up with the Opposition party, and hence such incidents take place.”
“If the attack would have taken place in Jorhat, Dibrugarh or Guwahati, then the Opposition can point fingers at BJP. But when such untoward incidents occur in minority-inhabited areas such as Dhing or Rupohi, which are Congress bastions, then how can you put the blame on BJP,” the chief minister said.
Sarma further took potshots at Dhubri MP, Rakibul Hussain, claiming that the senior Congress leader was not to be seen in his parliamentary constituency, or in his earlier Assembly constituency (Samaguri) in the run-up to the panchayat elections. “This is because, there is an apprehension that he could face public ire there, despite winning in Dhubri by 10 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections,” the chief minister claimed.
The chief however said that action would be taken against the perpetrators who attacked the Congress leader’s convoy, where MLA from Batadrava, Sibamoni Bora was also present. “I have directed the police to enhance the security of the Congress MP and appropriate action will be taken,” he said.
The Opposition party, in the wake of the incident, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.
An Assam PCC delegation on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Assam DGP at the state police headquarters in Ulubari here, demanding immediate arrest of the perpetrators of the attack based on photographic and video evidence, besides a comprehensive review of the law and order in the districts ahead of the two-phase panchayat elections.