BJP playing 'vile political game' on granting ST status to 6 communities: Congress

Guwahati, Nov 25 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Tuesday alleged that the ruling BJP has been playing a "vile political game" for the last 10 years on the granting of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities in the state.

In 2016, then Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, had announced that if a BJP government was formed in Assam, ST status would be granted to the six communities within six months but that promise remains unfulfilled even today, Saikia said at a press conference here.

"Since the BJP has no answers now, they are trying to mislead the people and shift the blame onto Congress", Saikia said.

Six communities—Tai Ahom, Koch-Rajbongshi, Chutia, Matak, Moran, and Tea Tribes (Adivasis)—are seeking Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in Assam.

In the years after 2016, several elections passed, and the six communities engaged in various protest programmes—sit-in demonstrations, road blockades, hunger strikes—but all their efforts went in vain.

Saikia and Nagaon Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who also addressed the media, claimed that during the Congress government's tenure, all legal procedures were duly followed, and multiple reports and proposals were submitted to the Central government regarding the inclusion of the six communities as Scheduled Tribes.

They also alleged that the RSS is using Assam as a laboratory and their politics of power is dividing tribes and communities.

Saikia accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of spreading false narratives by claiming that the Congress's earlier commitment to granting Scheduled Tribe status was flawed, but the resolutions that the Congress had brought in the assembly never contained any clause that would harm the interests of the existing ST communities.

The Congress leader claimed that the Assam Cabinet decisions hold no weight because the matter lies entirely with the Central government and urged leaders of the six communities to negotiate directly with the Centre.

The MP said that the state's first Chief Minister, Gopinath Bordoloi, had stated in the Constituent Assembly that Assam as a whole possesses strong tribal characteristics and that all communities residing in the state must get equal opportunities to preserve and develop their culture and identity.

He had even suggested that Assam, if necessary, be declared a tribal state and ''this remains the party's official stand even today''.

The MP said that Congress wants ST status for the six communities while ensuring that the constitutional protections and status of existing ST groups remain fully safeguarded.

He asserted that the Congress will continue working with full commitment to provide constitutional protection and ST recognition to all communities in Assam with tribal characteristics, despite the BJP–RSS conspiracies. PTI DG DG RG