Guwahati, July 19: BJP MP Dilip Saikia launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of fueling unrest in Assam, endangering indigenous rights, and pandering to “anti-Assam forces” for electoral gains.
Saikia condemned Congress’s ongoing political campaign in Assam as a “direct assault on the rights of indigenous people,” asserting that its so-called “struggle” is nothing more than vote-bank politics disguised as activism.
Saikia held Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge directly responsible for the July 17 violence at Paikan in Goalpara, where evicted settlers clashed with forest officials, leaving one person dead and several injured.
Kharge, speaking at a public rally in Chaygaon on July 16, had said, “We will rebuild the houses that have been demolished.” Saikia said this emboldened illegal settlers and incited the confrontation the very next day.
“Will Kharge take moral responsibility for the violence his speech incited?” Saikia asked.
He reminded the Congress chief of the Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in Yashpal Singh vs. Punjab, which upheld the inviolability of government land, forest reserves, and water bodies, ruling out any legal protection for illegal encroachment.
Saikia blamed the Congress party for creating the conditions that now require large-scale eviction drives.
“Had the Congress not allowed illegal settlements on forest land and wetlands for decades to build its vote bank, these evictions wouldn’t be necessary,” Saikia said.
He accused Congress of betraying Assam’s sons of the soil, calling the party’s new direction under Gaurav Gogoi a “new curse” for the state.
“This is not just politics—it’s a Mughal-style ploy to destabilise Assam,” Saikia alleged.
Saikia also fired back at Rahul Gandhi for calling Assam’s media “sold out” and biased.
“This is an insult to the fourth pillar of democracy. Rahul’s attack on journalists is shameful and defamatory,” Saikia said, urging media associations nationwide to file defamation suits against the Congress leader.
He further mocked Rahul’s call to jail Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, calling it “laughable” coming from a man who, alongside Sonia Gandhi, is out on bail in corruption cases.
“Someone on bail preaching about jailing others is the height of irony,” Saikia quipped.
Saikia also condemned an incident on July 18, in which a Congress MLA used abusive and unconstitutional language against the Editor-in-Chief of a private news channel in Assam.
Calling the act “disgraceful and unacceptable,” Saikia demanded that the Congress party and the MLA issue a public apology to the media fraternity.
Saikia’s remarks come as the BJP doubles down on its law-and-order narrative ahead of the 2026 elections, framing Congress not as an opposition party but as a threat to Assam’s indigenous identity, legal order, and democratic values.
