Will inform ECI if political parties call bandhs: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In a tough measure, the state government has decided that any political party resorting to ‘bandhs’ will be reported to the Election Commission of India (ECI), and their registration will be cancelled.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated this before the media today, in light of threats of agitation by some opposition political parties against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The CM said, “Everyone has a right to organize agitations. But, if any political party violates the HC directive on bandhs, such parties will have their registration cancelled. Earlier, the Gauhati HC had issued a directive that bandhs should not be called by anybody. So, if any political party resorts to bandh, we will inform the ECI that the HC order is being violated by them. If any student organization calls a bandh, it’s another matter, but political parties cannot violate the HC order.”

He further said that the IMDT Act was not repealed on the basis of agitation but on grounds of logic. If the grounds of those opposing the CAA are valid, the court will itself repeal the Act. “IMDT was repealed by the Supreme Court, and the case related to CAA is currently going on in the SC. When the rule of CAA is notified, the case will again be taken up in court. At that time, those opposing the CAA should lay their justification before the SC. Our government will also give our justification in court. We will all accept the court’s final judgement on the subject,” the CM stated.

He continued by saying, “The Bill related to CAA has already been passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. So, the Bill has been turned into an Act. If protests are to take place, they should have been done when the Bill was being passed. Now, only the CAA rule will be framed. Nobody in Assam should create an atmosphere of protests now. I respect those who oppose CAA as well as those who support it. But it is the guarantee of Himanta Biswa Sarma that no new people will enter Assam if CAA is implemented, and I will also not allow it to happen.”

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