Guwahati, Feb 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assam unit on Friday, February 20, launched a sharp counterattack on the opposition after the Indian National Congress released its “Charge Sheet-2026” targeting the state government.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, party spokesperson Jayanta Kumar Goswami invited Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to personally visit Assam’s tea garden areas to assess the ground situation. He urged her to walk through tea garden labour lines, inspect schools, Anganwadi centres and hospitals, and interact directly with residents to witness what he described as visible development under the present administration.
Goswami dismissed the Congress document as politically motivated and termed its allegations baseless. He said the accusations reflected what he described as the party’s disconnect from Assam’s realities. Referring to eviction drives carried out under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP spokesperson asserted that the operations were aimed at removing illegal encroachments from forest land, VGR/PGR land, Tribal Belts and Blocks, and other government property.
He rejected claims that indigenous communities were being displaced to benefit corporate interests, calling the charge “false and misleading.” Goswami further criticised the Congress for what he described as decades of neglect of tea workers, stating that while earlier governments had failed to grant them land rights, the current dispensation had distributed land pattas to ensure ownership security.
The exchange marks a fresh escalation in political rhetoric in Assam, as parties sharpen their campaigns ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
