INDIA bloc complains to EC about Assam CM Himanta Sarma’s hate speech in Jharkhand
The group said that the BJP leader’s use of the word ‘infiltrators’ was aimed at creating a ‘civil war-like situation’ in the state ahead of Assembly polls.
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The INDIA bloc on Saturday filed a formal complaint against Assam Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing him of making “inflammatory and divisive” remarks during a campaign rally in Jharkhand, reported The Indian Express.
The complaint, submitted to the chief electoral officer of Jharkhand, claimed Sarma’s rhetoric was designed to fuel communal tensions ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections on November 13 and 20. Sarma has been campaigning for the Hindutva party in the state.
In a November 1 speech in Sarath, Sarma reportedly suggested that Muslims tended to vote for a single party while the Hindu vote was divided across parties. He also suggested that the state’s Hemant Soren-led government “invites infiltrators” due to voting loyalties from “a special community”.
In recent years, the BJP has frequently sought to push claims of large-scale undocumented immigration from Bangladesh as the driving force behind demographic changes in the state, particularly in the Santhal Parganas.
In 2022, a BJP worker from Jharkhand filed a petition before the High Court claiming that the proportion of Scheduled Tribes in the division was declining due to “illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh” who were marrying into Adivasi families to acquire land and influence. A Scroll investigation has found such claims to be false.
On September 12,...
