Guwahati:

If his fiery speeches draw crowds to meetings, it’s the ‘dancing’ skills of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that literally get the public on their feet.

With electioneering heating up in this Northeastern state where polling for the 14 Lok Sabha seats is scheduled in the first three phases on April 19, 26 and May 7, the BJP’s star campaigner is out with his dancing moves to attract voters.

As Mr Sarma campaigned across the Jorhat constituency on Saturday, he ended his meetings by dancing to the BJP’s theme song ‘Akou ebar Modi sorkar’ (Modi’s government, once more), inviting enthusiastic participation from the audience.

असम के माताओं, बहनो और बुज़ुर्गो में उमंग से साफ़ झलकता है कि उनकी पसंद सिर्फ आदरणीय श्री @narendramodi जी ही हैं।

जोरहाट लोक सभा#AbkiBaar400Parpic.twitter.com/8FkcU12XoV

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) April 6, 2024

Be it at the end of the rally in Sivsagar or in Mariani, the CM sang and danced, while urging the public to join, who readily obliged and joined their leader from the stands.

Accompanied by clapping and occasional jumps with fists in the air, Mr Sarma’s trademark moves added energy to his campaign.

In his speeches, Mr Sarma outlined the various welfare measures of the BJP-led governments both at the Centre and the state, and exhorted the public to vote for PM Modi for a third successive term.

Sharing a video of his lively campaign dance on X on Friday with the public joining him from the stands, he wrote: “We are #ModiKaParivaar. Of course, we sing and dance in our rallies.” Mr Sarma’s dance moves had garnered much attention during the 2019 parliamentary elections when he had swung along the tunes of ‘Akou ebar Modi Sorkar’ and other BJP campaign songs on the dais and during roadshows.

The BJP has nine MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha from Assam, which has been its best show in the state so far, with Mr Sarma exuding confidence of winning at least 13 seats this time.

The BJP is contesting in 11 seats, leaving two for its ally Asom Gana Parishad and one for United People’s Party Liberal. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma addresses the media, at Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati on Friday. (ANI Photo)
| Photo Credit: ANI

“Assam has secured investments to the tune of ₹13,364 crore with employment generation for more than 17,000 people in the last 14 months,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The investments have been committed through 21 proposals, approved by the State Cabinet, under the Industrial and Investment Policy of Assam (IIPA), 2019.

“The IIPA was amended in 2023 to attract mega investments of ₹100 crore and more, with permanent jobs for 200 or more,” he said in a post on X on March 15. “While MoUs for 14 of these proposals were signed earlier, seven agreements were inked on Friday,” the Chief Minister of Assam said.

“In January 2023, we announced a policy to customise incentives for mega investors. Today, seven more firms committed to create 6,500 jobs through ₹2,000 crore of investment,” Mr. Sarma said.

“In last 14 months, through this policy, Assam has secured investments of ₹13,364 crore and 17,700 jobs,” the Chief Minister said.

“Among the companies that have entered into MoUs so far are PepsiCo India, Star Cement, Jericho Chemicals, Indian Hotels Company Limted, Maxim Infrastructure Private Limted and Topcem India LLP,” officials said.

Jairam Ramesh. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have engaged in a war of words over Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘Akbar’ remark made during a public speech in poll-bound Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha.

The Congress on October 26 moved to the Election Commission (EC) against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging a poll code violation by the latter during a speech made in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

Taking to ‘X’, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote, “Yesterday, the Congress party brought to the attention of the Election Commission of India serious electoral malpractices by senior leaders of the party in power. The ECI has observed prima facie the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the Assam CM for his obnoxious hate speech on the 18th of October in Chhattisgarh. He is actually a serial offender”.

“We hope that the ECI will follow through and take this case to its logical conclusion. Politicians, especially those holding Constitutional positions, cannot and should not be allowed to get away with such blatant violations of the Model Code of Conduct. It is the only way to stop the poisoning of our public discourse and protect the sanctity of our elections and democracy itself”, he added.

Following this, the EC issued a show-cause notice to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over his speech during the Chhattisgarh poll campaign. The Election Commission (EC) in the show-cause notice mentioned that certain parts of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s speech on October 18 have been found to be “prima facia violative”.

The EC has asked Assam CM Himanata Biswa Sarma to be present before 5 p.m. on October 30, 2023.”You are hereby called upon to show cause by 17:00 hrs of 30th October 2023, (Monday) as to why appropriate action of violation on Model code of conduct should not be taken against you.”, the notice read.

The notice further mentioned that in case of the absence of the BJP leader, the Election Commission will take appropriate action or decision. Meanwhile, in response to the allegation by the Congress party, Assam CM took to ‘X’ and wrote, “Congress has withheld the material information from the Hon’ble Election Commission that Mohammed Akbar is their candidate from Kawardha Constituency. Therefore legitimate criticism of a candidate does not amount to communal politics”.

“Congress will have to face the legal consequence of not revealing this crucial fact in their representation. I have full faith in the collection wisdom of the Hon’ble Election Commission”, he added.