A day after senior BJP leader and former Nagaon Lok Sabha MP Rajen Gohain resigned from his cabinet rank owing to his dissatisfaction over the recent delimitation process, Assam water resources minister Pijush Hazarika said Gohain's accusations were false and that blaming the chief minister for the process was unjustified.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Pijush Hazarika said, "Like Rajen Gohain claimed that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is responsible for the delimitation process, which we all know is not true, the entire delimitation process was conducted under the supervision of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Only Mr. Gohain knows under what conditions he blamed the chief minister for this. But, if his charges are genuine, I believe Assam's chief minister should have been given the title of 'Jatiya Mahanayak' of Assam for this."
According to the state cabinet minister, at least 104 seats in the state have been reserved for Hindus and Indigenous people as a result of the delimitation process.
"I have heard Muslim leaders like Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal and MLA Sherman Ali are now claiming that this delimitation process has ended the political career of the politicians from the minority community. MLA Sherman Ali also went on urging the Muslim politicians to stop doing politics because the number of Muslim seats has been reduced to 22 following the delimitation procedure. I saw a video on my mobile where he even asked people from the Muslim community to give priority on education and entrepreneurship," Hazarika added.
Being the cabinet minister of the state, Hazarika claimed that once the final list of ‘Mission Basundhara’ will get published, Rajen Gohain will feel proud being a Hindu.
Meanwhile, Hazarika expressed his concern for Rajen Gohain’s claim that the delimitation process has rendered the 10-Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency un winnable for BJP candidate in the future also putting the people of Nagaon under threat because of the demographic change.
"I'm surprised why he (Gohain) said that. As an MLA from assembly constituency under Nagaon, I can only say that the BJP will contest the election to win, not to lose. Furthermore, his feelings for the Nagaon constituency are entirely personal, so I won't comment further. I have a lot of respect for Rajen Gohain," Hazarika concluded.
