Barely four days after her recent visit to Assam’s Bengali-majority Barak valley districts — expectedly given wide coverage in the Assam-based Bengali press — to boost her party’s prospects, two prominent TMC leaders of Hailakandi district, resigned from the TMC. They joined the Congress, along with their followers at lower organizational levels. Worse, they also warned of more such desertions to follow in the days ahead — hardly the best pre-election run-up for party seeking a foothold in a new uncharted territory.

Local media reports, embarrassingly for both the TMC supremo and TMC RS leader Ms Sushmita Deb (formerly of the Congress) her chosen local political heir, have described the exodus as a virtual ‘landslide’. Most observers were caught by surprise, these high profile desertions coming so soon after Ms Banerjee’s spirited speeches made at well attended public rallies in the valley.

These leaders are, according to Barak Valley media accounts, Mr Badrulislam Barbhuyan, General Secretary of the TMC in Hailakandi and Mr Kamrul Islam Barbhuyan, senior leader and TMC office bearer of Hailakandi. Both joined the Congress ceremoniously at Congress Bhavan, welcomed by Party general secretary for the NE, Mr Prhviraj Satha and other senior leaders.

Speaking briefly to local mediapersons, Mr Barbhuyan (Badrul) said despite his brief association with the TMC, he was convinced that it was only the Indian National Congress that could pose a challenge to the BJP at the national level and put up a credible fight against it. Echoing him, Mr Barbhuyan (Kamrul) said he had rejoined the Congress, the party from which he had defected to the TMC earlier, because no other force could protect democracy and secularism in India.

Senior Congress leaders said that the joining of these leaders and more such defections from the TMC, election victory prospects for the most prominent Congress nominee from the Barak valley, the veteran Mr H.R.A. Choudhury, had brightened considerably. Early next week, several thousands of the followers of the Barbhuyans were scheduled to join the Congress at a large ceremony in the valley, where senior state Congress leader, Mr Gaurav Gogoi would welcome them.

This unexpected TMC setback generated fresh questions and deepened current speculation about the long term prospects of the West Bengal-based party in the Northeast. Media analysts in the NE had commented on many unusual features, as they put it, associated with Ms Banerjee’s Barak valley visit and particularly, the speeches she delivered.

Assam Chief Minister Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma had embarrassed the TMC by declaring many times in the past that he would always welcome Ms Banerjee (with a red carpet!) to campaign for the TMC in his state . His explanation: she would attack the Congress and help in the process of cutting /weaning away a section of the pro-Congress non-BJP votes in the process. This should only help, not hinder the BJP’s own election campaigns. The divided opposition would be further handicapped.

Bengal-based observers monitoring Ms Banerjee’s Barak Valley speeches, reported another peculiarity : she hardly ever referred in her speeches to the BJP or the hardline Hindutva policies pursued by Assam Chief Minister Mr Sarma. Nor did she condemn the various excesses committed by Mr Sarma and his administration for their palpably ruthless approach to the issues and grievance affecting the state’s Muslim minorities : such issues ranged from the forcible bulldozing of their assets and properties, the closure of their cultural institutions or their forcible ouster from variously disputed land/plots/territories, frequently without compensation.

There had also been several cases of state policemen killing ‘armed miscreants’ in what were officially described as encounters where the police had been attacked first. The endless harassment and travails of religious and linguistic minorities, illegal detentions and fines etc over citizenship-related issues and interrogations had been reported widely in the national as well as he international media.

Matters had reached a stage where the Guwahati High Court had stepped in to provide relief to many litigants including public-spirited HR figures among the minority communities, against the ruling BJP Government, strongly condemning its excesses.

Surprisingly Mamata Banerjee, who never tires of repeating her tirades against the BJP in her rallies in Bengal and other states, did not spare a word on such matters in the Barak valley. Yet in these Bengali-majority districts there were lakhs of Hindu Bengalis who had had their normal citizenship rights taken away after the controversial NRC u[gradation of citizens’ lists in Assam, sponsored by Mr Sarma’s administration !

In Assam the Congress failed to give proper leadership in uniting the INDIA partners against the BJP and its allies. Out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, BJP got 9 and the Congress 3 in 2019 elections. If a proper INDIA front would have been built, the BJP might have lost a few seats. But in the current Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is looking confident under the leadership of the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sharma. The rivalry between the Congress and the TMC in the state has given advantage to the BJP. The central leadership of the Congress has to be blamed also for not taking much interest in proper alliance in Assam. (IPA Service)