Priyanka Gandhi Releases 20-Point Chargesheet Against BJP Led Assam Government

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday (19 February) released a 20-point chargesheet against the BJP-led Assam government during a visit to Guwahati, accusing it of corruption, fear-based governance and failure to fulfil key promises to indigenous communities and tea garden workers. Vadra, who is on a two-day visit to the state as chairperson of the party’s candidate screening committee for the upcoming Assembly polls, alleged that public resources were being diverted while people’s rights and livelihoods were neglected.

The chargesheet was presented in Assamese, and the event was broadcast live on social media. The opposition listed a series of allegations against the government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ranging from corruption and economic mismanagement to failures in employment, welfare and law and order.

According to the Congress, the 20 allegations are:

1. Large-scale corruption and a Dispur-centred “syndicate raj” allegedly creating an illegal parallel economy.
2. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ministers and their families allegedly involved in corruption and illegal accumulation of wealth.
3. Despite CAG warnings, irresponsible increase in government debt and financial mismanagement.
4. Failure to grant Scheduled Tribe status to six indigenous communities.
5. Eviction of indigenous people and alleged transfer of their land to corporate interests, including Adani.
6. Failure to implement key clauses of the 1985 Assam Accord safeguarding Assamese identity.
7. Alleged irregularities and financial mismanagement in the NRC process, with about Rs. 1,600 crore spent.
8. Failure to secure national disaster status and adequate relief for Assam’s flood and erosion-affected people.
9. Failure to create new jobs under the “double-engine government”, forcing youth to migrate outside the state.
10. Government vacancies portrayed as employment generation while Assam becomes a labour-supplying state.
11. Weakening of the public education system depriving poor children of quality education.
12. Failure in basic healthcare leading to rising deaths from preventable diseases.
13. Non-implementation of the promised Rs 351 daily wage for tea garden workers.
14. Allegations of anti-people “bulldozer-style” governance and rising price burden on citizens.
15. Creation of a climate of fear through encounter-style policing and “cowboy-like” governance.
16. Rising crimes against women and children and failure to ensure their safety.
17. Alleged environmental destruction and illegal mining by coal and forest mafias.
18. Failure to effectively address the drug problem beyond publicity campaigns.
19. Allegations of attempts to suppress the media, termed the fourth pillar of democracy.
20. Persistent garbage mismanagement and urban flooding in Guwahati and other cities.

Addressing the gathering, Vadra said the people of Assam wanted a state where communities lived in unity and retained control over their land and natural resources. She alleged that corruption was widespread and that citizens were witnessing their land being handed over to industrialists while promises remained unfulfilled. She urged party workers and supporters to raise awareness among the public.

Questioning the government’s development claims, she asked whether young people were getting jobs, whether small industries were growing and whether innovation was being encouraged, answering each in the negative. Referring to welfare cash transfers to women without naming any specific scheme, she alleged that money was distributed before elections while issues of safety and employment remained unaddressed. Vadra claimed that such measures were intended to distract people from “real issues” as the state’s resources were gradually taken away from its own citizens.

She alleged that Assam’s resources were being diverted to wealthy industrialists while ordinary citizens were kept distracted through monetary benefits distributed to them, which she claimed were intended to secure electoral support for the ruling party.