What is the sense on the ground as campaigning has entered the final phase?
I witnessed something which I haven’t in the past 25 years. People are upbeat and coming out in large numbers I have never seen before. Seeing the people’s mood, we will be getting around 95-102 seats.
Women turnout in your rallies has been high. Is it due to the schemes you have for them?
Assam BJP has a live connection with women. This is not the first time. Even during the Assam agitation, women were at the forefront. In our society, women are at the forefront. Those who are coming to my meeting have the consent of their husbands. Without the approval of the husband or eldest son, no woman would come. When women come to the meeting, one can assume the entire family is coming.
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This is probably the first election in the last 30 years where insurgency is not an issue.
The Election Commission‘s decision to have an election in one phase is a tribute to our government’s initiative to have a state where peace is the rule; disturbance is an exception. We’ve been able to create a peaceful environment. There are just a couple of days left for the elections, but there are no incidents, no electoral clashes like West Bengal. Assam election is always, by and large, peaceful – even when the ULFA and other organisations sabotaged the process.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has campaigned for the AIUDF in Assam.
In this election, Owaisi is like a guest speaker. His party is not contesting. He has come to support a particular party, but I feel he has come to Assam to get a feel of the ground. This is a preparation for 2031. I think Assam’s immigrant Muslims will not stand with him. We are creating a strong nationalist feeling among immigrant Muslims. Our outreach is very strong. I am not doing this for politics. Like, we propose to bring the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), ban polygamy, and provide the Orunodoi scheme, free ration and free education. We have created a large support base, people want us to come and campaign. I am sure indigenous Muslims and Indian Muslims will not support Owaisi in Assam.
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How about campaigning in minority dominated areas?
We always get the vote of Indian and indigenous (Assamese) Muslims. The question is of Bangladeshi Muslims. Should I ask for their votes? As of now, we are not thinking of taking those votes. That is why I have not even campaigned in 25 constituencies where immigrant Muslims have a large influence. If they vote voluntarily, that’s a different issue.
What gives you confidence that BJP will come back to power?
Assam has entered a golden era. We never thought we would have a semiconductor unit… build a 34-km long elevated corridor in Kaziranga, have an underwater tunnel connecting both banks of the Brahmaputra. We never thought Assam could be so peaceful, we could not even dream of giving employment without corruption. Orunodoi is a path-breaking scheme. We launched it in 2019 to give monthly disbursement to women. Even the Congress government in Karnataka and the TMC government in West Bengal are following it. Motivating self-help groups to achieve lakhpati bideo (sister) — this measure has created different effects in people’s psyche. Collectively, people are behind the BJP today.
