On Tuesday, the Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) declared the result of the ‘North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council’ elections in which, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 19 out of 28 seats. The BJP’s victory in the election is clear indication that the NRC has the approval of the people, despite the abundance of propaganda against it.
ASEC further stated that out of a total of 28 seats, the BJP won 19 seats, independents bagged 6 seats, 2 went in favour of the Congress party and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) got 1 seat. On January 19, the polling for the 28 seats of the 12th North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council in ‘Dima Hasao’ district took place. The election witnessed a record turnout of more than 75 percent. Himanta Biswa Sarma, a prominent leader from BJP in the North-East, too exclaimed in joy on this victory and congratulated the party workers in his tweet saying;
Assam reposes its faith in leadership of Sri @narendramodi and Sri @AmitShah.
The results of North Cachar Autonomous Hills Council amply proves this. @BJP4India 19, @INCIndia 2, AGP 1,Independent – 6
Congratulations to all my dear colleagues who won. #AbkiBaarPhirModiSarkar
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) January 23, 2019
After the BJP’s defeat in three Hindi heartland states, this is good news for the saffron party cadre coming from Assam. These elections are being considered as a referendum on the BJP’s stance on the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC), and Sarbanand Sonowal government’s work in the state.
In July last year, the Assam Government had published the much awaited final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). There were around 40 lakh people whose names did not feature in the final draft of the NRC. The main motive behind updating and publishing the NRC is to separate authentic Indian citizens in Assam from illegal immigrants. The NRC consists of the names of Indian citizens of Assam and it was first prepared in 1951.
The North-eastern states have been suffering for a very long time due to the large influx of illegal immigrants mostly from Bangladesh, but still the Congress party showed no concern for the residents of the Border States. The Congress party and its leaders has been reluctant to take up the issue of illegal immigration. Finally, after a long time a party like the BJP, which is serious about addressing the menace of illegal immigration, came to power.
The NRC has become so popular that now other states also want to carry out the same exercise. After Assam, demand for the NRC is also coming from states like Meghalaya, Tripura and Jharkhand. There are reports that NRC has turned out to be so popular that many in West Bengal have switched allegiance to the BJP, and the BJP has also promised to implement NRC in these states if they are voted to power.
The opposition and left liberal media have criticized the BJP government time and again for addressing the concerns of Hindus and indigenous peoples, and claimed that it is anti-people. But an interesting fact is that after NRC was announced in Assam, the BJP has won the local body election with a grand majority. These results portray the actual response of the masses on the issue of NRC. The stance of the saffron party on NRC is good news for all Hindus who’s concerns were left unaddressed by the earlier governments.