Guwahati, Apr 7: AJP debutante Kunki Chowdhury finds herself at the centre of a charged controversy with CM Himanta Biswa Sarma threatening legal action against her parents over alleged beef consumption, even as she dismissed the attacks as “baseless” and gears up to challenge veteran BJP leader Vijay Kumar Gupta in Guwahati Central constituency.
The constituency, which was created during the delimitation exercise in 2023, has around 1.93 lakh voters.
When the opposition Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) announced the 27-year-old unknown Chowdhury’s candidature, it looked like a cakewalk for 70-year-old veteran BJP leader Gupta, given the ruling party’s massive election engineering machine.
However, as days passed, everyone was stunned by the slow and growing acceptance of Chowdhury — primarily because of her age factor with a ‘Gen Z’ appeal and her high educational background.
Chowdhury returned to Guwahati last year after completing a master’s in Education Leadership from the top-ranked University College London.
The first-timer from AJP for the prestigious Guwahati Central legislative constituency aims to address the unique needs of the locality, while promising to act as a bridge between the governance and the public.
As a young leader, Chowdhury brings fresh perspectives and energy to the table, leveraging her academic background to drive positive change in a battlefield where the ruling BJP has fielded heavyweight Gupta, for whom even Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a roadshow last month.
She was connecting fast with the people, mostly the young voters, and used social media extensively in her campaigning to connect with her voters.
In an interview with PTI, Chowdhury said she approached the people with five promises: solving the urban flood issue; establishing skill training centres for youths; fixing the vehicle parking issue in highly congested areas; garbage collection and disposal; and expediting the rollout of the cooking gas pipeline.
On the other hand, Gupta has assured people on a range of topics, including cleaning the Bharalu river, stricter punishment for chain snatchers, free coaching for civil services aspirants and setting up a creator studio for the youths, among others.
“Even I am a Gen Z. It is not about age. Gen Z is all about energy. I am still energetic and ready to go extra mile to work for the people,” he said.
The BJP leader said he is planning to create tourist spots like “Switzerland, Shimla and Shillong” on the Guwahati hills, surrounding the state capital.
So far, it was going well, with both parties carrying out their campaigns in a dignified manner without attacking each other.
The plot abruptly changed on April 2, when CM Sarma made a series of serious allegations against Chowdhury’s parents.
Sarma claimed that her mother, academician Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, had shared posts related to beef consumption, made remarks offensive to certain sections and supported Pakistan, thereby hurting the sentiments of ‘Sanatani’ people.
After the allegations, Kunki posted a sarcastic video on social media in which she denied all the claims and thanked Sarma for making her a household name in the country.
Continuing his salvo, the CM two days later again said he would take action against Chowdhury’s parents for allegedly consuming beef and uploading a picture of it on social media. A deep fake video also emerged a day after the accusations were made, in which Chowdhury defended her mother’s consuming beef, prompting her to lodge a police complaint.
This led all Gorkha people in the constituency to unite against the BJP with an apex body of the community lending support to Chowdhury. A Bengali organisation too offered its support to the AJP nominee.
Of the 1.93 lakh voters in Guwahati Central, around 50 per cent are Assamese speaking, including most of the Gorkhas, and 25 per cent are Bengalis. A considerable section of people are from the Hindi-speaking communities. There are also a little over 10 per cent Assamese Muslims in the constituency.
Commenting on the turn of events, senior journalist Bidisha Singha, who lives in the constituency, said that Kunki Chowdhury is like that ‘out of syllabus’ query that has stumped the shrewdest of political minds.
“For the ruling dispensation, she has become an unexpected headache, a David who has brought the mighty Goliaths to their knees, so much so that they are twiddling their thumbs trying to figure out how to break her defence. And that’s why the vilest accusations, the deep fake videos, the trolling!” she added.
Eminent neurosurgeon Navanil Barua said that the CM probably wanted to target AJP chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi by accusing him of giving a ticket to a candidate from a beef-eating family as the allegations were made in Gogoi’s Khowang constituency.
“However, it has completely backfired. Now, people from all communities want to see a highly-educated young Kunki as their representative in the Assembly,” he added.
Pallavi Deka, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Handique Girls’ College, said that Chowdhury’s entry into Assam politics has given new hope to the otherwise indifferent image of Gen Z towards politics and socially sensitive issues.
“Contradicting the initial image of a weak and infantile candidate for the constituency, Kunki has emerged strongly in terms of political maturity and mental stability, countering opponents’ attacks in a most composed manner,” she added.
However, in the whole episode of personal allegations against her, CM Sarma’s “immaturity and desperation” is vivid and it has again exposed the larger hate game of the party in power, the social scientist said.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9. Votes will be counted on May 4. (PTI)
