Himanta slams Cong for questioning BJP nominee's citizenship, says he can call Sonia 'Italian'
Palonghat/ Dholai (Assam), Nov 5: Hitting out at the Congress for trying to project a BJP by-poll candidate in Assam as a ‘Bangladeshi’, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that questions can also be raised on the nationality of the opposition party's top leader Sonia Gandhi and she can be called an 'Italian'.
The Congress, in its campaigning for the Dholai constituency in Barak Valley, has cast doubts about the citizenship of BJP candidate Nihar Ranjan Das, claiming that it was a saffron party leader who first raised the allegation.
Sarma also alleged that the Congress is not bothered about electoral victory or defeat, and its only intention is to put hurdles in the state's development, as he likened the opposition party to a "male cow" that cannot produce milk.
Addressing a rally for Das at Palonghat during the day, Sarma said, “If you (Congress) call Nihar Ranjan Bangladeshi, I will also call Sonia Gandhi Italian. If you think I am afraid of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, let me tell you I am not.”
Sonia Gandhi who was born in Italy came to India in 1968 after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi. She was granted Indian citizenship later.
The BJP leader maintained that Bengali Hindu residents of the present Barak Valley of Assam were dwellers of what is now Bangladesh, as it was the same country prior to Partition.
He blamed the Congress for creating the problems for Bengali-Hindus of Barak Valley, who had to move to present-day Assam following Partition of the country due to atrocities on religious minorities there.
“During the Lok Sabha election campaign, I had come here and said that we will resolve all problems of the Bengali Hindus. The government of India has already unblocked the Aadhar cards that were on hold. The state government has also issued orders that Bengali Hindus should not face any problems,” he said.
When all problems have started to vanish, the Congress is saying Das is a Bangladeshi, he claimed.
The opposition party is not insulting Nihar Ranjan alone, but all Bengali Hindus, he asserted.
Sarma also held the grand old party responsible for the Partition of India in 1947.
"Had you not bifurcated Bharat, atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh would not have happened,” the chief minister asserted.
“Hindus are facing atrocities even now (in Bangladesh). We can see this on television and social media. But you (Congress) cannot raise these issues. Congress was formed to play only negative politics,” the CM added.
Sarma dared the opposition party to defeat the BJP candidate through votes on issues of development as he named the welfare measures being pursued by his party’s governments in Assam and at the Centre.
Addressing his first rally at Dholai earlier in the day, Sarma said, “The Congress has no issue this election. They are not bothered about victory or defeat. They only want to hamper development. They don't want poor people to get government benefits.”
"The Congress should sit at home and take rest. They won't come to power for another 50 years,” Sarma, who had been busy with assembly polls in Jharkhand as the BJP's co-in-charge there, added.
Sarma claimed that the grand old party incited violence in the state earlier, which has been effectively controlled by the BJP-led government.
“The Congress had created conflicts between Assamese and Bengali people. Such conflicts are no longer there. There is no difference between Brahmaputra valley and Barak valley now. The same development is happening everywhere,” he added.
The BJP leader urged the people to vote for the party's candidate, claiming that uninterrupted, accelerated development of the constituency can be ensured if the MLA is from the ruling party.
“If the MLA and the MP both are from BJP, with BJP governments at Dispur and Delhi, they will work together. But if the Congress candidate wins, he will later say that he cannot get things done as the BJP is in power in the state and at the Centre,” the CM added.
“The Congress is like a male cow, you can feed it as much as you want, but it cannot give you milk. Similarly, you can vote for the Congress, but it cannot give you development,” Sarma said.
Using the same comparison at Palonghat rally, Sarma added, “Males don’t produce milk as per nature’s order of things. However, that order is different from what happens in politics. Nihar Ranjan is special, he will give you development.”
The chief minister asserted that the BJP has been fulfilling its poll promises, including providing one lakh government jobs, and all assurances will be implemented before the next Assembly elections in 2026.
By-elections are scheduled in five Assembly constituencies of the state on November 13.
Besides Dholai, the BJP has fielded candidates in Samaguri and Behali seats, while its allies AGP is contesting from Bongaigaon and UPPL from Sidli. These by-polls were necessitated by the election of the incumbent MLAs to the Lok Sabha.
Of these five seats, BJP and its allies held four, with Congress holding one.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
