Guwahati: A delegation of the United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) on Thursday, August 29, submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu demanding the dismissal of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly failing to maintain law and order and inciting division among communities through his statements.
The opposition parties, led by Congress Lok Sabha MP Pardyut Bordoloi and the forum’s general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi, submitted the memorandum to the President through Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at the Raj Bhavan here.
The opposition parties alleged that over the past two years, the CM has made a series of provocative statements, including on the floor of the assembly, targeting the Muslim community.
The opposition parties alleged that about a year ago, Sarma incited certain youths to expel religious minorities from Guwahati, who were working as vegetable vendors, rickshaw pullers, private drivers, and construction laborers.
Additionally, the Gauhati High Court had reprimanded the state government for demolishing the houses of Muslim families at Batadrava in Nagaon district with bulldozers and ordered compensation for them.
Following the dastardly act of rape of a young girl in Nagaon district’s Dhing, ”the Chief Minister tried to whip up a communal frenzy by targeting the Muslim community, which led to the attack on some people belonging to religious minorities in Sivasagar by BJP leaders and workers”, they alleged.
On the law and order situation, the opposition leaders claimed that encounter deaths by police are highest in the state, according to a Center’s report placed in Parliament, while killings, dacoities, rape, and murder were regular phenomena during Sarma’s rule.
Additionally, the opposition parties claimed that on Independence Day this year, ULFA(I) planted bombs in several locations, with the police only becoming aware of the threat after the outfit revealed it through an email.
UOFA also claimed that during BJP rule from 2016–23, 17,657 rape cases were registered, according to government records. They also noted that during the last seven months, 580 new rape cases were reported, with 15 incidents occurring in August alone.
The opposition parties also alleged that corruption involving the Chief Minister and his family has reached unprecedented levels, with various media reports revealing an extensive list of illegal properties both within the country and abroad.
It is clear from the above facts that the Chief Minister has ”compromised his oath of office in the name of the Constitution, grossly violated the Constitution by creating hatred and enmity among different communities by his series of provocative statements, failed to provide security to the life and property of citizens, and indulged in rampant corruption”, the opposition parties alleged.
Besides Bordoloi and Gogoi, the memorandum was signed by state Congress president Bhupen Borah, leader of the opposition in the state assembly Debabrata Saikia, Lok Sabha MP Rakibul Hussain, CPI(M)’s Isfaqur Rahman, Raijor Dal’s Russell Dal, and others.
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