Congress hits streets in Dispur, targets Assam CM over alleged asset buildup
The Opposition alleged that the public has a right to know how such assets were acquired, particularly after CM Sarma entered electoral politics
Congress protestors at Dispur (AT Image)
Guwahati, Feb 10: Stepping up its attack on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), on Tuesday, staged a protest at the Manabendra Sharma complex in Dispur, Guwahati.
Raising questions over Sarma’s alleged assets and recent controversial social media content linked to the ruling BJP, Congress leaders and workers took to the streets demanding “transparency and accountability” from the BJP-led state government.
Central to the protest were allegations regarding the Chief Minister’s purported accumulation of land and assets, with protesters seeking clarification on claims that Sarma owns “12,000 bighas of land”.
The Opposition alleged that the public has a right to know how such assets were acquired, particularly after Sarma entered electoral politics.
Protesters claimed that before his political career, Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan, lived in a rented house, and questioned how the family’s financial status and influence had grown after he became a legislator.
“If the Chief Minister is a public figure, how can he allegedly possess 12,000 bighas of land? On one hand, the government claims to have distributed benefits to lakhs of people through schemes, while on the other, common citizens are drowning in debt,” said Assam Mahila Congress chief Mira Borthakur.
Addressing the press during the protest, one demonstrator alleged that government welfare schemes have failed to meaningfully benefit ordinary families.
“Whatever schemes the government announces, families cannot survive on them alone. People are burdened with debt, while the Chief Minister appears focused on acquiring property registered in the names of his wife and children. Even celebrated artistes like Zubeen Garg are yet to receive justice,” a protester claimed.
Borthakur also took aim at the Chief Minister’s political associates, alleging that the people around him were offering misguided advice. “I have repeatedly warned the Chief Minister that if he keeps company like Pabitra Margherita, he will continue to receive misguided advice. The people surrounding him are opportunists,” she said.
The Congress also reacted sharply to a controversial video allegedly circulated from a BJP-linked social media handle, showing the Chief Minister firing a gun at point-blank range.
Party leaders described the content as “dangerous”, “undemocratic” and “deeply disturbing”, alleging that it set a wrong precedent.
Earlier in the day, the party lodged a formal complaint at Dispur Police Station against the BJP, accusing it of circulating a communally provocative, AI-generated video from the BJP Assam unit’s official account on a microblogging platform.