An FIR was filed against BJP legislator Mrinal Saikia in Barpeta on Saturday for his alleged derogatory remarks against the people of Lower Assam region.
The FIR was filed by members of Veer Lachit Sena, known for their hypernationalistic sentiments, at Barpeta's Sarbhog Police Station. The complainants further demanded the arrest of Saikia within 24 hours.
The organization condemned the derogatory comments made by him targeting the population of Lower Assam region.
This comes after a video surfaced on social media where the sitting MLA can be heard making statements portraying the people of the Upper Assam region as superior. "It's not like we will vote for whoever gives us money. We have a pride. The people of Upper Assam live with pride. We are not from Lower Assam. We have oil here, tea estates, coal...we are only running Lower Assam," he can be heard saying.
Saikia seems to dissect the cause for BJP's poor performance in the video saying, "So, if you come and tell a community that lives with so much pride that we have given Rs 1250 in your accounts, vote for us.. they will never do so. However, if they had contested the elections normally, like our earlier leaders used to...this is why they lost."
However, his comments are being seen as derogatory towards the population living in the Lower Assam region.
Defending his remarks, the Khumtai MLA replied, "If there can be open speeches of Hindu-Muslims, Bodos-Non Bodos Tea- Non-Tea tribes [Ahoms]-Non Ahoms Assamese-Biharis-Marwaris Etc.Etc.Etc —- What is [moral] about this Lower Assam Upper Assam thing."
This also followed a minor tweak to his X account where instead of the customary 'Modi Ka Parivar' tag that every BJP leader, worker, and supporter seems to follow, Saikia added 'From Upper Assam' next to his name.
It may be noted that Mrinal Saikia, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Khumtai assembly constituency, has come under fire from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently.
Sarma reacted strongly even suggesting that Saikia's days in the BJP are numbered and the MLA is looking to switch sides. The matter sparked from Saikia congratulating opposition leader Gaurav Gogoi on winning the Jorhat seat in the recently concluded, a defeat which went against the BJP's plans. The post further seemed to target his own party over "money, big publicity, over doses of leaders and arrogant speeches".
