Assam divided into pre-CAA post-CAA those against legislation are united Gaurav Gogoi

By Trideep Lahkar
Guwahati, Mar 22 (PTI) Strongly defending Congress joining
hands with AIUDF, Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday said the
socio-politico scenario of Assam changed completely after the
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, uniting those opposed to the
contentious legislation as per wishes of the people.
He said his father Tarun Gogoi had always opposed any form
of alliance with the AIUDF earlier, but later he himself gave
the idea of the two parties aligning in the post-CAA scenario.
In an exclusive interview to PTI,the senior Congress leader
opined that the situation in Assam can now be divided into two
phases -- pre-CAA and post-CAA, and it was necessary to unite
all anti-CAA forces in order to protect the ethos of the Assam
Accord.
"I look at Assam as pre-CAA and post-CAA. In pre-CAA, we were
talking about our respective political ideologies, including
the AGP which should have opposed CAA considering its history.
"But they switched stance and voted in favour of CAA in
Rajya Sabha, thereby delegitimising the Assam agitation and
the Assam Accord, in which their own party had a tremendous
role," Gogoi said.
Starting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home
minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, every saffron party leader,
from inside and outside the state, have been slamming Lok
Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal headed AIUDF's tie-up with Congress.
They often quote Tarun Gogoi opposing any alliance with the
All India United Democratic Front to stress the point.
"After the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, there has been a
sea change in the attitude of the people towards Congress and
AIUDF. Today, it is ordinary peoples' wishes that all forces,
including Congress, AIUDF, Left front and regional parties,
should unite in order to defeat CAA and overthrow the BJP
government.
"So, we are only respecting the mandate of the people. Very
senior intellectuals, who hold the influence of public
opinion, are also saying that all forces opposing the CAA
should be united," Gogoi, who is Chairman of Congress
manifesto committee, said.
He further said there is a pre-CAA Assam, where Congress
and AIUDF were on opposite ends, but in the post-CAA Assam,
Congress, AIUDF and Left have opposed the Act.
"It was very natural for these parties to come together. I
feel this alliance has the blessings and popular support. You
could see the number of people thronging the streets of
Guwahati in 2019 and other parts of the state. Nobody saw such
a crowd in the last 30-40 years.
"It has really captured the popular imagination of the
people, especially the young. It was not an urban agitation,
but a statewide movement," Gogoi said.
When asked why the two new anti-CAA parties, Raijor Dal and
Assam Jatiya Parishad, are not in the grouping, Gogoi said
Congress had invited them but they did not accept it.
"We extended goodwill.We are not attacking those two parties
even though they are outside. We know they are opposing the
CAA. However, in some seats where they have put up candidates,
they may ultimately end up supporting the BJP," he added.
Extending support to jailed anti-CAA activist and Raijor Dal
chief Akhil Gogoi, the Congress leader said the extended
incarceration of the peasant leader is "unjust, inhuman and we
continue to voice that".
The Congress has formed a Grand Alliance with AIUDF, BPF,
CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM), RJD and
Jimochayan (Deori) Peoples Party (JPP) to fight the upcoming
Assembly election against the BJP-led NDA.
Gogoi said there is a national perspective and there is an
Assam-centric perspective regarding the CAA because of the
history of the Assam Accord, which itself has a very powerful
place in Assamese collective society.
"The CAA threatens the Assam Accord. I think many people
feel that the Assamese way of life, culture, values and
stories that we have grown up with, things we read in our
history are threatened. That's why there is a pre-CAA and
post-CAA Assam," the Lok Sabha member from Kaliabor added.
When asked if the BJP is underestimating the anti-CAA
sentiment in this election, Gogoi said the ruling party knows
that the CAA is an important issue, but they are trying to
downplay it with their leaders terming it as non-factor.
The highly contentious CAA seeks to provide Indian
citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and
Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of
residence here.
The Congress has "guaranteed" that if it is voted to power,a
law will be introduced to nullify the CAA.
Talking about the poll prospects of the Grand Alliance, he
said, "I see that our graph is going up and BJP's graph is
going down. I feel that we have already crossed the majority.
I feel as we come closer to Phase I, II and III, we will be
well over the majority."
Asked about the target of 100 plus seats out of 126,
Gogoi claimed it is a realistic target and not a rhetorical
figure as they have already "crossed majority" and "by end of
Phase III, 100 is not far ahead".
"I am very confident that with the alliance, we are forming
the government. People are excited to see Congress leadership.
"They find that the BJP is offering no real solutions to
the genuine problems of unemployment and inflation," he added.
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)