Nalbari (Assam), Oct 13 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that people will not tolerate any attempt to undermine democracy and the Congress cannot “trample” on the people’s mandate.
Sarma’s statement came on the day the Assam unit of the BJP launched a statewide ‘Jan Jagaran Procession’ from Nalbari against alleged attempts by the opposition INDIA bloc to destabilise the country through agitations, political instigation and unjustified allegations against the judiciary and constitutional institutions.
The statewide campaign is aimed at mobilising public opinion against the Congress’s alleged efforts to create political instability by opposing the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, state BJP spokesperson Mita Nath Bora said.
Sarma, in a social media post, said, “Nalbari has roared! Assam stands firmly with SIR and proudly with Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji!”
He said the “massive turnout sends an unmistakable message to Congress: people will never tolerate attempts to undermine our democracy, intimidate our constitutional institutions, or compromise the sanctity of our electoral process”.
The Congress on Tuesday termed the SIR “illegal and unconstitutional” and demanded that the exercise be frozen and the names of all legitimate voters restored to the electoral roll.
“The people’s mandate is sacred, and Congress has neither the right nor the authority to trample upon it!” the chief minister added.
Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia, state organising secretary Ravindra Raju, state Cabinet minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, senior leaders and members of the ruling party participated in the procession in Nalbari.
“The party maintains that accurate electoral rolls are essential to safeguarding electoral integrity, strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring that the people’s mandate is respected,” Bora said in a statement.
She said the Jan Jagaran Procession will be organised in Guwahati on Wednesday, followed by similar events in Silchar, Tezpur, Barpeta, Jorhat and Dibrugarh, among other locations, as part of the statewide mobilisation scheduled to continue until October 31.
She termed the Congress’ objections to election results as “selective”, pointing out that the party and its allies have also secured poll victories under the same Election Commission.
She cited the formation of governments by Congress and its allies in states such as Jharkhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The spokesperson said that through the campaign, the BJP seeks to emphasise the importance of electoral integrity, institutional credibility and democratic accountability.
“The campaign also seeks to highlight the importance of peace, unity, progress and continued national development,” Bora said, adding that the BJP was committed to raising public awareness and countering attempts to disrupt the country’s progress and growth.
The INDIA bloc has been protesting amid a raging row after The Indian Express reported that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders mostly related to the SIR process.
The EC has said that differing views and observations are part of deliberations in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
(PTI News)
