Karbi Congress Accuses Assam Govt of Land Grab to Benefit Corporates

The Congress leadership from the Karbi community has launched a scathing attack on Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging a systematic attempt by the BJP-led government to strip indigenous Karbis of their constitutional land rights and transfer the land to corporate houses like Adani and Ambani.

At a press conference held on Tuesday at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati, senior Congress leaders from both East and West Karbi Anglong districts accused the state government of betraying its promise to protect the identity, land, and heritage of Assam’s indigenous communities. They alleged that under the pretext of development, large-scale evictions are being orchestrated in Karbi villages.

East Karbi Anglong District Congress president Bidya Sing Rongpi accused the Chief Minister of “engineering a vile conspiracy” to hand over Karbi lands to private corporations. He claimed to have documents indicating a coordinated plan to uproot entire indigenous settlements in the name of progress.

Former Executive Member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, Ratan Engti, went a step further, targeting senior BJP leader and council chief Tuliram Ronghang, whom he accused of acting as a political and now a “land ATM card” for the Chief Minister. Engti alleged that Ronghang has distributed government contracts worth thousands of crores among close relatives, stalling the region’s real development.

“Tuliram is living like royalty in luxurious farmhouses while the Karbi people struggle for their basic rights,” Engti said.

Former MLA Jagat Singh Engti echoed similar sentiments, stating that not just Karbis but all indigenous communities in Assam are under threat under the current BJP regime. He further alleged massive irregularities in the use of central and state development funds by Ronghang and his associates. Jagat Singh demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the financial dealings of the council and challenged the Chief Minister to initiate such an investigation if he truly believed in transparency.

Joining the chorus, West Karbi Anglong Congress president Rupsing Bongrung and senior leader Rupsing Bey expressed serious concern over what they described as a “calculated attempt” to weaken the Sixth Schedule protections that safeguard tribal land rights in Karbi Anglong.

"The BJP is not only eroding the constitutional dignity of the Karbi people but is also facilitating unregulated plunder of the region’s natural resources," Bongrung said. "The looting of forest wealth is being done with complete impunity."

The Congress leaders also alleged that the state government, in collusion with private interests, had planned to hand over vast tracts of tribal land to the Adani Group for a solar energy project. According to their claims, the land acquisition would displace around 20,000 people across 23–24 villages, though official records grossly understate the figure, listing only 1,200–1,400 affected individuals. The land in question has been misleadingly labelled as “barren” to justify the takeover, they added.

Compounding the anger is the ₹1.75 lakh per bigha compensation rate fixed by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, which the Congress leaders said falls well below prevailing market values, further deepening resentment among affected communities.

Calling for the immediate protection of the Sixth Schedule and Karbi ancestral land, the Congress leadership warned that the BJP’s current policy trajectory risks igniting serious unrest among the hill tribes.

"The Karbi people will not remain silent if their land and identity are put on the auction block," they cautioned.

Also Read: ‘Scrap the Solar Project in Karbi Anglong’—Demand Orgs After ADB Withdrawal