Congress to contest all five seats in bypolls, says Assam state chief

Digital Desk: President of Assam Congress, Bhupen Kumar Borah announced on Tuesday that the party intends to compete in all five Assembly seats where by-elections are scheduled. He also reaffirmed the party's stance against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. This comes amidst the state government instructing its border police to guide non-Muslim illegal immigrants who entered the state before 2015 on applying for citizenship under the new law.

Borah shared these decisions following a meeting chaired by AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh with district-level party leaders on Monday. This meeting marked the beginning of Singh's three-day visit, during which he plans to hold further discussions with MPs, MLAs, and other leaders to fortify the party's organizational framework and devise future strategies.

In a post on X, Borah said, "@INCAssam would contest all the 5 seats where byelections would be held. We would constitute 5 teams of senior leaders who would reach out to the grassroots. The Election Commission is yet to announce the bypoll dates.

The Assembly seats of Samaguri, Behali, Dholai, Sidli, and Bongaigaon became vacant when the incumbents were elected to the Lok Sabha. Of these, only the Samaguri seat was held by the Congress, while the remaining seats were controlled by the BJP and its allies AGP and BPF.

During the last Lok Sabha and the 2021 Assembly elections, the party participated as part of an opposition alliance. However, in some constituencies during the parliamentary elections, alliance members ended up fielding candidates against each other.

Borah mentioned that during the meeting, it was decided to activate the party’s Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) to resolve all pending disciplinary cases promptly.

He emphasized, "We reiterated our opposition to CAA, and recalled the commitment made by Shri @RahulGandhi ji to repeal CAA once in power."

The party's restatement of its opposition to the CAA coincided with the state government's directive to its Border Police wing. They were instructed not to refer cases of non-Muslim illegal immigrants who entered Assam before 2015 to the Foreigners Tribunal. Instead, these individuals are advised to apply for citizenship through the CAA.

In a letter addressed to the Special Director General of Police (Border), Home and Political Secretary Parth Pratim Majumdar directed the state police border wing not to forward cases of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain, and Christian communities who entered India prior to December 31, 2014, directly to the Foreigners Tribunal (FT). Such individuals are instructed to apply through the citizenship portal for consideration by the Indian government.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma acknowledged that the government issued the directive, clarifying it was a procedural order in accordance with existing laws.