Assam: Workers of Defunct Paper Mills Pin Hopes of Survival to Himanta s Ties With Amit Shah
Over 1,200 workers feel they have been betrayed by Sarbananda Sonowal, who promised that the mills would reopen.
The main gate of Nagaon Paper Mill. Photo: Gaurav Das
Rights16 hours ago
Guwahati: Members of an umbrella body of workers’ unions in Assam have pinned their hopes on state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma becoming the next chief minister, instead of Sarbananda Sonowal’s return to the post. The reasons range from unkept promises to basic survival.
The Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions (JACRU), the union body of the now-defunct Nagaon and Cachar paper mills, feels that Sonowal has betrayed them after promising that two mills will be reopened.
Sarbananda Sonowal said he was hopeful that people will continue to support the government (File)
Guwahati:
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, confident about winning the state elections with an enhanced mandate, said the people have shown their love by voting for the BJP and its allies. Once again the BJP-led alliance will come to power. People have shown their love for us by voting us and we will reciprocate the love by working for the people of the state, the chief minister told reporters. I am hopeful that the people will continue to show their love and support the government at all times, Mr Sonowal said.
In Assamese heartland, those who fought BJP’s citizenship law are now voting for ‘development’
Economics, and not identity, dominates election conversations. Voters in Upper Assam say development is central to the election, not citizenship battles. | Arunabh Saikia
Fifteen months ago, within 24 hours of Parliament passing the Citizenship Amendment Act, five young men fell to police bullets in Guwahati as scorching protests swept through Assam.
The controversial amendments fast-track Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Assam, which shares a long border with Bangladesh, angry protestors declared the new law would spell the death knell for the Assamese identity. For years, the Congress had sheltered “illegal” Muslim migrants, they claimed, and now the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had promised to chase away all “infiltrators”, was doing the same by paving the way for the entry of Hin
The ruling BJP in Assam launched its campaign here on Wednesday for the coming Assembly election amidst promises by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that the party will take all steps for all round development of the state.