Soon after he was elected Leader of the BJP Legislature Party in Assam on Sunday, Chief Minister-designate Sarbananda Sonowal said implementation of the “Assam Accord” will top his administrative agenda.
A Memorandum of Settlement (MoS), signed between the Central government and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New Delhi on August 15, 1985, the Assam Accord sought identification and expulsion of illegal immigrants from the State.
Meets GovernorAfter the party meeting, Mr. Sonowal met Assam Governor P.B. Acharya along with his coalition partners, the Assom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), to formally stake claim to form the next government.
Governor Acharya gave his approval, clearing the way for Mr. Sonowal to become the State’s fourteenth chief minister. He will be sworn in on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to be among the attendees.
In his brief interaction with media outside the Governor’s residence, Mr. Sonowal reiterated his promise that he would build a fence on the Assam-Bangladesh border within two years and put an end to illegal crossings.
“We will work towards finishing the border-sealing work within two years, and it includes the riverine border,” Mr. Sonowal said.
During the recent election campaign, the BJP had whipped up the issue of “illegal immigration” and promised that it would secure the “greater Assamese identity” if voted to power.
The call resonated with the State’s 62 per cent Hindu majority, which commonly perceives all Muslims as Bangladeshis who have illegally crossed over into Assam in the last three decades.
Mr. Sonowal had moved the Supreme Court to challenge the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act in 2005, which led to the court scrapping the controversial law. Under the Act, the burden of proof to determine one’s identity was on the State. Instead, the Foreigners Act was implemented in Assam that mandates that a person accused of being a foreigner must prove otherwise.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support, Mr. Sonowal said the BJP and its allies would work with the “spirit of unity and live up to the people’s expectations.”
In his meeting with the Prime Minister on Saturday, Mr. Sonowal said Mr. Modi urged him and his fellow legislators to work “honestly for the development of all sections of society.” “He [Modi] said we have got a scope to work for all. He is there for us in our every need. We have to complete the unfinished work,” Mr. Sonowal said.
