Guwahati, Assam:

In a bid to end the ‘VIP culture’, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday announced that ministers and government officials will have to pay for their electricity consumption.

“We are ending the VIP Culture rule of paying electricity bills of Government officials using tax payer money. Myself and the Chief Secretary will set an example and start paying our power bills from July 1 onwards. Beginning July 2024, all public servants will have to pay for their own electricity consumption,” Assam Chief Minister wrote in a post on X.

We are ending the #VIPCulture rule of paying electricity bills of Government officials using tax payer money.

Myself and the Chief Secretary will set an example and start paying our power bills from July 1 onwards.

Beginning July 2024, all public servants will have to pay… pic.twitter.com/kJMoYETQLJ

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 16, 2024

Additionally, the chief minister emphasized the state’s commitment to energy conservation, explaining that they have launched a program to automatically disconnect electricity at all government offices, except for the Chief Minister Secretariat, Home, and Finance Departments, at 8 PM.

This initiative aims to reduce electricity consumption, and it has already been implemented in 8,000 government offices, schools, and other institutions throughout the state.

“Our aim is to gradually move all Govt establishments to solar power and we are exploring beginning this work from our Medical Colleges and Universities across the State,” Assam Chief Minister added.

The Assam Chief Minister launched the Janata Bhawan Solar Project during a ceremony at the state Secretariat Complex on Sunday. This initiative aims to further the state’s efforts in promoting renewable energy, featuring a 2.5-MW capacity grid-connected solar PV system installed on rooftops and ground surfaces.

This project would yield an average of 3 lakh units of electricity monthly and the investment amount of Rs 12.56 crore is projected to be recovered within 4 years, with monthly savings standing at about Rs. 30 lakh.

The launch of the solar power project today has led to the Assam Secretariat Complex becoming the first-ever civil secretariat in the country that relies entirely on solar-generated electricity for daily consumption.

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

Is this the code red moment in the national polls? Himanta Sarma appears to suggest so.

The Assam Chief Minister, a former Congress leader, has alleged that Rahul Gandhi, his former party boss, has been displaying the Chinese constitution at his poll rallies. Mr Sarma arrived at the conclusion based on the colour of the book – a deep red.

“The original copy of the Constitution of India has a blue cover. The original Chinese constitution has a red cover. Does Rahul carry a Chinese Constitution? We will need to verify,” Mr Sarma, 55, posted on X on Friday along with a picture of the Constitution, in what he calls the original blue cover, and a Rahul Gandhi picture with the red one.

Reacting to the Chief Minister’s post, several social media users said that the red-bound Constitution is a coat pocket edition, which has been presented to top Indian leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and the Union Home minister.

On Saturday, despite being called out on social media for the misleading post, the Chief Minister doubled down on his assertion.

“Rahul is displaying a red Chinese constitution to the people attending his meetings. Our constitution, in blue, includes a chapter called the Directive Principles of State Policy, which makes it a sacred duty to enact a Uniform Civil Code in our country; Rahul is now opposing this. That’s why I am sure that the constitution in his hand must be a Chinese one,” he said in a post today.

An MLA belonging to the Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) party pointed to the “red gamcha” worn by the Chief Minister.

“There is no fixed colour of Indian constitution. The Chief Minister also wears a red gamcha, is it also from China? This is not a right post,” Hafiz Rafiqul Islam, MLA, AIUDF, told NDTV.

“Constitution has many colours but contents inside are same…We don’t read the colour but what is inside. Colour do not endorse any purpose,” said Congress MLA Abdul Rashid Mondal.

The latest controversy comes amid a raging debate around the constitution.

The Congress has been alleging that the BJP, which has set a mammoth “400 paar” target, plans to redo the constitution. The BJP however has maintained that no government can change the constitution.

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has put the Congress on alert – even before the Lok Sabha results are declared – warning his former party that several, if not all, of its winning candidates in the state will jump ship to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s side shortly after the election.

Mr Sarma’s jab at the Congress – his message to voters was that there is, therefore, no point in voting for the opposition party – came as he started his campaign from Assam’s Karimganj district.

“The question is whether a Congress candidate will remain in Congress or not. Now, no one wants to stay in Congress… everyone wants to join the BJP. This time, if I can bring all Congress candidates… then what will be the benefit of voting for Congress?” the Assam Chief Minister told reporters.

Mr Sarma laid credit for cross-overs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feet, proclaiming, “PM is the Sun, and we are the Moon”, and claimed opposition leaders “are ours… if we call, they will join us”.

“Modiji will again become Prime Minister and there is no question about who is a ‘minority’ and ‘majority’. There will only be ‘sabka saath sabka vikas‘ (‘development with all, for all’, the BJP’s tagline). There is no opposition. They are ours and if we call, then they will join us,” he said.

The Assam leader made similar claims in November 2020; that was before the Assembly election in which the BJP-led alliance dominated, winning 75 of the state’s 126 seats. The BJP won 60 of 93.

“Before polls, people change political positions and there are a few good leaders still in the Congress in Assam. I have invited them to join the BJP. I am in touch with many of them…” he said then.

Mr Sarma himself joined the BJP from the Congress in 2015, after sharp swipes at party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He was seen then as the mastermind of the Congress’ hat-trick of wins from 2001 to 2011, but fell out after being overlooked for the Chief Minister’s post.

ARCHIVES | In Assam, Congress’ Himanta Sarma Will Join BJP Soon

The 2024 election dates were announced by the Election Commission of India on Saturday. Assam – which sends 14 MPs to the Lok Sabha – will vote in seven phases from April 19.

In 2019 the BJP contested 10 of those 14 and won nine. The saffron party’s allies – the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front contested four but failed to win any.

Three were won by the Congress. The AIUDF and an independent lawmaker won one each.

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Guwahati:

The issue of ED and CBI raids against opposition leaders as raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cannot be a factor in the election campaign, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

ED and CBI are associated with criminals or probable criminals and the common people are not concerned about it, Mr Sarma said at a press conference In Guwahati.

”Gandhi is addressing an ecosystem for criminals with which the ED and CBI deal, but this cannot be an election campaign,” he said.

People of the country are concerned with basic issues of getting electricity, houses, water, education and health and not with what is happening to a few criminals, the Chief Minister said.

Referring to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said that he was a ‘dishonest politician’ who has played with the media for long and duped people in the name of ‘mohalla clinics’ and schools.

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

Bongaigaon/Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state police will issue a summons to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over violence during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Guwahati.

He said Mr Gandhi will have to be physically present before the police, which will send the notice after the Lok Sabha polls.

“When someone breaks the law, summons will obviously be issued. Summons will go to Rahul Gandhi and he will have to stand here after Lok Sabha elections,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function.

Mr Sarma said that summonses issued to Congress MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar and Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah were just the “beginning” of the process.

The Chief Minister was referring to a case filed by Guwahati Police over Congress workers breaking barricades in an attempt to pass through the main roads inside the city during the yatra in January.

Initially, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police issued notices to Mr Sikdar and Congress Guwahati city general secretary Ramen Kumar Sarma, and both of them have already been questioned by the police.

It later dashed off summonses to the leader of opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia and Mr Borah too, but neither of them appeared on the scheduled date.

“We have issued notices to both of them for the second time. Saikia has been asked to appear before us on March 6, while Borah has been asked to come on March 7,” a senior police official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Reacting to the fresh summons, Mr Borah said he will not be able to appear on Thursday as his father’s death anniversary falls on that day, and besides, he also has a party meeting on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“In Guwahati, 2,745 cases were lodged in a single year. But the police cannot look at those and solve them as the biggest criminal for them is Bhupen Borah.

“Earlier, other Congress leaders were also issued notices for their alleged role in violence in the yatra, but everything went silent after they joined the BJP. However, I am not going to join the BJP,” he said in an apparent reference to former Assam Congress working president Rana Goswami, who has recently joined the ruling party.

On January 23, Congress workers in the presence of Gandhi and other leaders broke police barricades, which were put up after the Chief Ministrr threatened to file an FIR if the yatra attempted to enter the main Guwahati city.

The party workers clashed with the police, who used mild lathi-charge to control the situation but failed to protect the barricades. Several police personnel and party workers were injured in the clash.

After dismantling the barriers, the Congress workers, however, did not proceed further with Gandhi stating that they “can break barricades, but will not break the law” and moved through its permitted route along NH-27 in Guwahati.

Following this episode, the Chief Minister called the action “Naxalite-style” and instructed the police to register a case. The Guwahati Police lodged a suo motu FIR against Gandhi and other leaders for “wanton acts of violence”.

Mr Sarma even announced that the “instigators”, including Mr Gandhi, would be arrested after the Lok Sabha polls as he did not want to “politicise” the issue before the general elections.

Along with Gandhi, several other senior Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Jitendra Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Srinivas BV, Kanhaiyya Kumar, Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupen Kumar Borah and Debabrata Saikia, have also been named in the FIR.

The Chief Minister, who also holds the Home Department in the state, later announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be formed to probe the case and accordingly, it was handed over to the CID.

The case was initially filed at the Basistha Police Station under 10 different sections, including non-bailable ones, such as 120B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience of order), 283 (causing danger, obstruction or injury) and 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the IPC.

Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 for alleged mischief causing damage to public property has also been slapped in the FIR.

Similarly, another FIR was registered against ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ organisers including KB Byju, Assam Congress Chief Bhupen Kumar Borah and others for allegedly deviating from its permitted route inside Jorhat town, leading to a “chaotic situation” in the area.

The Jorhat Police issued notices to the accused persons and several of them have already been interrogated.

Referring to the police cases against him and other Congress leaders in Assam, Mr Gandhi had dared the BJP-ruled state to file “as many cases as it can”, asserting that he would not be intimidated.

The yatra, led by the Congress MP, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai.

The Assam leg of the march, which started on January 18 and concluded on January 25, travelled 833 km in 17 districts. The yatra plans to cover 6,713 km in 67 days while passing through 110 districts in 15 states.

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

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused the Gandhi family of “working to break the country” and urged Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to “give away Gandhi title”.

He said the Gandhi family is “Sardar of duplicate” and alleged that they had committed “too many scams”.

“Their first scam started with the title of Gandhi. They did only Parivarvad and worked on breaking the country. I request Rahul Gandhi to give away the Gandhi title,” the Assam Chief Minister said while addressing the BJP Mahila Morcha’s national executive meeting in Guwahati.

Chief Minister Sarma praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ‘Delhi Declaration’ adopted during the G20 leaders’ summit in Delhi and said it happened only because of him.

“Kamakhya corridor will come into reality in the next two years. Only because of PM Modi, the Delhi declaration happened amid Ukraine, Russia war. Congress didn’t celebrate 25 years, or 50 years of Independence of the country. But, Modi ji celebrated 75 years of Independence and everyone feels that we are Bharatiya. The great reformer Mahapurusha Sankaradeva wrote about Bharat Bhumi 500 years ago, this is our Bharat Bhumi,” Mr Sarma said.

He said Prime Minister Modi is working to make Bharat a Vishwaguru.

“Yesterday when I saw Modi ji talking to global leaders, I felt that Bharat has now become Vishwaguru. Women are now leading the country. Prime Minister Modi gives more focus on Nari Shakti, women empowerment. A few days ago we launched an operation against child marriage. Getting married at nine years and giving birth at 12 years is common in a particular community in Assam. No Hindu endorses casteism, but one Tamil Nadu minister spoke against Hindus,” the Assam Chief Minister said.

He also said the state government will launch another massive operation against child marriage within the next 10 days.

“Mahila Morcha should launch a campaign against child marriage and polygamy across the country. We will bring act against polygamy in December. The nation now again needs Modi ji. We will have to make Modi ji PM for 10 years. Modi government will be formed in Bharat,” Chief Minister Sarma said.

He also highlighted that the Northeast has changed in terms of development transformation.

“We are trying to make the 40 lakh as Individual entrepreneur. Rs 10,000 will be provided to their bank account, next year and Rs 15,000 from government and Rs 15,000 from bank in next and it will be gone up to Rs 1 lakh. First year we will give 100 per cent subsidy to 40 lakh women,” he said.

“Today’s North East has changed in terms of development transformation. 14 years ago North East has completely changed. Out of 25, BJP will win 22 seats in North East,” he added.

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday that he was amazed that Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak is attracted to “Indian Sanatan culture” and heritage even though he stays in Britain.

Himanta met Mr Sunak and other G20 heads of state at the grand dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday. 

“I got the opportunity to speak with Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak and his wife (Akshata Murthy). We had a general discussion. In spite of being in Britain, he is attracted to Indian Sanatan culture and heritage. He was speaking in his mother tongue Hindi with me and with some other Chief Ministers. This is a proud moment for us,” the Assam Chief Minister said speaking to reporters in Guwahati on Sunday.

The reference to ‘Sanatan’ was a mild slam at the opposition over the ‘Sanatan Dharma’. Recently, Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said in a speech that Sanatan Dharma shouldn’t be opposed but “eradicated”. This stirred a huge political storm in the country with the Bharatiya Janata Party questioning the INDIA bloc leaders over its stand on the issue.

The Assam Chief Minister also spoke to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the dinner for G20 delegates on Saturday.

“I personally got to speak with Singapore Prime Minister. He has an interest in Assam, especially nursing education and skill education,” Himanta said.

Speaking about the G20 Summit, Himanta Sarma said, “This is a historic Summit. Various heads of states participated. For the first time African Union was included in the G20.  This was due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

The Assam Chief Minister pointed out that given the Russia-Ukraine war, it is usually difficult to get Russia, China and the US on one table. However, he said, that in the G20 Summit at Delhi, all the nations came together and signed the Declaration.

“It is difficult to get America, Russia and China talking on any issue. However, during G20, Russia, China, America, France, and Italy signed the historic Declaration,” Himanta said.

The New Delhi Declaration was adopted by the G20 nations on Saturday.

The Global Biofuel Alliance also came into being during the Summit owing to the leadership of India, Himanta added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the conclusion of the two-day-long G20 Summit on Sunday which saw participation by heads of state of the grouping and heads of international organisations.

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

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that if the Congress does not distance itself from DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s controversial remarks on Sanatana Dharma, it will ‘confirm’ public’s perception that the party is ‘anti-Hindu’.

He also questioned the grand old party’s stance on its leader Karti Chidambaram defending the DMK leader’s statements.

“I do not want to condemn the statement by the Tamil Nadu minister because he has exposed himself,” Mr Sarma said, claiming that remarks on similar lines were also made by Karti Chidambaram and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

DMK youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had alleged on Saturday that Sanatana Dharma is against equality and social justice, and had likened it to coronavirus, malaria, fever caused by dengue virus and mosquitoes.

His remarks led to a furore on social media with BJP’s IT department in-charge Amit Malviya stating the DMK leader has called for “genocide” of 80 per cent population who follow Sanatan Dharma.

Udhayanidhi Stalin rubbished the genocidal claim and said his speech was a pointer to social evils.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram defended Mr Stalin’s remarks saying that the BJP likening it to a “genocidal call” is like giving it a “mischievous spin”.

Mr Sarma maintained that the question is now whether the Congress will remain in alliance with the DMK and take action against Mr Chidambaram.

“This is a test for Rahul Gandhi. He has to take a decision whether he respects Sanatan Dharma or not,” the BJP leader said.

“If Gandhi does not snap ties with DMK or expel Chidambaram, then it will be confirmed that these people (Congress) are anti-Hindu, they do not like Sanatan Dharma, they do not like the Hindu religion,” Mr Sarma added.

Refraining from making any statement on Hinduism as a religion, he said, “I don’t want to join that debate. It was here from 5,000 years ago and will be there till the sun and moon are there.”

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