Ahead of polls, BJP conducts its 1st Assam Nirman meet

A day after declaring Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate, the Assam BJP on Friday launched its ambitious campaign, Assam Nirman, to prepare its vision document for the state after consulting with the locals. Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the party’s first dialogue here on Friday.

In what is said to be an attempt to counter the Congress politics of freebies, Assam BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “By hosting such dialogues in different cities, we intend to know if people of the state want development of their choice or they are really happy with the appeasement politics of the ruling Congress.”

Asserting that the BJP wants to change the course of development, he said, “We don’t want that what we some leaders think should be the course of development. It is people who should decide that what kind of development they want... In a nutshell people of Assam are fed up with this politics of soota (cotton thread) and kambal (blanket) politics before every election.”

The Union ministers will address series of dialogues across six cities, he added.

Home minister Rajnath Singh will address a session in Dibrugarh on illegal immigration. In Jorhat, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan will speak. Suresh Prabhu will address the last two meets.