Opposition Begins Protest Campaign Against Draft Delimitation in Barak Valley

SILCHAR: A united opposition, led by the Congress, began their campaign in Barak Valley against the draft delimitation on Sunday.

Opposition leader in the State Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, his party colleague and Nagaon MLA Rokibul Hussain, Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan, Assam Jatiya Parishad chief Lurin Jyoti Gogoi on Sunday arrived at Karimganj to meet cross-sections of people on the delimitation issue which had seen mass protest in the Barak Valley. The draft delimitation proposed chopping off two Assembly segments in the Barak Valley and the prestigious Silchar Lok Sabha seat reserved for the SC community. People of Barak Valley had already expressed their resentment by observing a bandh on June 27. Even the ruling party leaders like minister Parimal Suklabaidya, MP Dr Rajdeep Roy, Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty had expressed concern over the draft.

In this backdrop, the opposition leaders on Sunday declared that if they are voted to power, this draft would be scrapped. Saikia assured that if the opposition party came into power, they would bring back those two seats. Even more constituencies could be created on the basis of the present population.

Lurin Jyoti Gogoi said, “The BJP has backstabbed Barak Valley, the region which was the birthplace of the saffron brigade.” Gogoi senses a pact between AIUDF and the BJP behind the entire delimitation draft. He said, though Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been claiming that the delimitation would ensure the security of the indigenous people againat encroachers and strength of the minority legislators would be reduced to 24 from the present 42 in the Assembly, Gogoi said that in reality just the opposite would happen. The AIUDF would become a deciding factor in at least 15-20 seats, he claimed.

The opposition leadera lambasted Himanta Biswa Sarma for playing with the security of the people of Assam for his personal benefit. The opposition delegation will also visit Hailakandi and Silchar to hear the opinions of the local people.

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