The embattled Congress party is likely to face more challenges in the upcoming Assam Assembly polls that are a couple of months away. Infighting, lack of credible leaders and the absence of three-time chief minister and senior party leader Tarun Gogoi could make the contest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a David-vs-Goliath fight.
Gogoi, who was credited with reining in the culture of violence in Assam and ushering in an era of development, passed away on November 30.
Nevertheless, the Congress has set the ball rolling for the elections by announcing a slew of schemes for the farming community and economically weaker section, who have been hit hard by the COVID-triggered nation-wide lockdown last year. Coming at a time when a protracted farmers’ agitation has put the Narendra Modi government in a fix, the grand old party would not miss any opportunity to highlight the purported failures of the ruling BJP –in agriculture, economy and other sectors.
In Assam, the Congress has promised farm loan waver, implementation of minimum income guarantee scheme NYAY, free electricity up to 120 units for the poor and middle class and ensure at least one job for each family, among others. It is the same NYAY that failed to make the cut in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The party is more or less following the same model as the one set by the Congress-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. It has highlighted how farmers of Assam, like the rest of the country, had to resort to distress sale in the absence of the minimum support price (MSP). Notably, the agitating farmers have been demanding the scrapping of the three controversial farms and making MSP applicable to all crops.
At present, only a handful of crops, including wheat and paddy are procured at MSP, leaving the rest at the mercy of private players.
Congress’ dilemma in Assam
While the ruling BJP has almost firmed up its alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), the Congress is still undecided over poll pacts. The UPPL together with the saffron party clinched the recently concluded Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls in Assam.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal is keen to join hands with the Congress, but a section within the Assam Congress seems to be reluctant in forming an alliance primarily because the former is seen as a party sympathetic to the suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
Assam has long fought over the issue of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion. Starting from the six-year anti-foreigner agitation in the 1980s until the recent National Citizens Register (NRC) for Assam and the protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the state’s indigenous people have been demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.
Against this backdrop, a direct alliance with AIUDF would sound the death knell for the Congress, which is anyway gasping for breath. Interestingly, the Congress and the AIUDF jointly fought the Bodo council elections with the former winning just one seat out of total 40.
The minority-dominated AIUDF failed to open its account, indicating that even the Muslims, who account for 19.21 percent of the total 31 lakh population in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), did not vote for Ajmal’s party.
An embarrassed Congress is now trying to distance itself from the AIUDF, as Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh said last week, “I said it a thousand times before and I will say it again. The Congress hasn’t yet finalised the issue of alliance. Any decision on alliance with AIUDF, Left parties or any other party will be made following consultations with our party workers.”
