NEW DELHI, Nov 24: The Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was the co-in charge for the BJP’s poll campaign in Jharkhand, on Sunday said he had “never” claimed that the BJP would win the assembly election in the state and form the next government.
“Whenever you (media) asked me here about Jharkhand, I said that it is a difficult state. I never claimed that we would win. It was a tough job for our party to fight there, but we did a good job under the given circumstances,” Mr Sarma said.
The BJP leader said the party could not achieve the goal for “whatever reason” and stressed the need to “keep trying”. “Whenever we are unsuccessful in something, the failed attempt serves as a foundation for future success,” Mr Sarma noted. “I spent a lot of time in the state but was unsuccessful in our mission. But I will always remember your love. I am thankful for all the love and support,” he added.
Despite that his “Bangladesh infiltration” narrative failed to impress the voters in Jharkhand, particularly in the tribal-dominated areas, the Assam chief minister refused to give up the issue. He instead stressed the urgent need for the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government to address the “infiltration” issue describing it as the government’s “constitutional duty.”
He said, “How much they will do won’t be right for me to prejudge. As chief minister of Assam, I won’t comment on the matter any longer. I said whatever I had to when I was the party’s co-in-charge. No government should compromise on the matter of infiltration as the end result will be demographic change, which will impact all,” he added.
Mr Sarma also urged the new BJP MLAs to raise the issue in the state assembly and said “infiltration” would cause “a lot of harm” to the state in the coming days. “It is your (JMM) government, and I appeal to you to push back these infiltrators or at least identify them,” he added.
(Manas Dasgupta)
