Guwahati, July 17: Reacting sharply to the Assam visit of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Minister and BJP leader Pabitra Margherita accused them of being “political tourists” with no real commitment to the people of the Northeast.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Margherita said Assam welcomes visitors seeking spiritual blessings or scenic beauty — but not political lectures. “If they’ve come to seek blessings at Kamakhya, Bagala, or enjoy Kaziranga and Manas — we welcome them. But if they’ve come to preach about progress, we’re not ready to listen,” he stated.
He criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for allegedly insulting smaller northeastern states, recalling Kharge’s remarks following Congress’s defeats in Tripura and Nagaland. He also accused Kharge of demeaning Assam’s pride, Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, by referring to him as an “ordinary singer.”
“How can we expect respect for Assam from someone who disrespects its icons?” Margherita asked.
He challenged the Congress leaders to visit the semiconductor project site near Nellie — a region still haunted by the 1983 massacre, which occurred under Congress rule. “Congress must first apologise for the brutal killing of 855 young Assamese during the Assam Agitation,” he demanded.
Margherita contrasted Congress’s past with what he called BJP’s development track record: doubling of rail and road connectivity, tripling of bridges over the Brahmaputra, new medical colleges in every district, creation of 1.5 lakh government jobs, the women-centric Orunodoi scheme, and sharp declines in insurgency-related deaths and rhino poaching. “If they want to see change, they are welcome. But from Congress, we expect nothing,” he asserted.
Echoing the criticism, Assam BJP chief spokesperson Kishore Kumar Upadhyay, speaking at a press meet in Bhashishta Chariali, dismissed the Congress visit as “a show.” He questioned why state Congress leaders hailed Gandhi and Kharge as “great leaders,” saying their words and actions betray a lack of genuine concern for the Northeast.
Upadhyay accused the Congress of a history of betrayal — including disrespect towards Bhupen Hazarika during his Bharat Ratna recognition, denial of land rights to indigenous Assamese communities, and failure to protect Assam’s monastic institutions, or Satras.
He claimed that during Congress rule, over 15,000 bighas of Satra land were encroached upon by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Warning of demographic shifts across constituencies from Dhubri to Lakhimpur, he said these were the direct result of Congress’s “appeasement politics.”
Citing figures, Upadhyay said the number of Bengali-speaking Muslim MLAs in Assam rose from 21 in 2001 to 31 in 2021. He also alleged that 63.5 lakh bighas of land were under encroachment during Congress’s decades-long rule.
Invoking the 2012 murder of young Satradhikar Devendranath Goswami — allegedly by illegal immigrants — Upadhyay asked:
“When will Congress apologise for the disasters they have gifted to Assam?”
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