Battle for Assam hinges on infiltration politics
As April 9, the election day in Assam, approaches, the atmosphere in the state is politically charged, and tempers are running high on both sides. The past elections in the State have been fought more on emotive issues than on issues of livelihood and people-centric issues. The NDA campaign spearheaded by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is focusing solely on the infiltration issue and has prominently placed it in their election manifesto. The issue of infiltration is not new to Assam, and the BJP has previously utilised this issue. The BJP has once again placed the issue of illegal immigration at the centre of its electoral narrative. Senior leaders, including Amit Shah and Himanta Biswa Sarma, have repeatedly asserted that the state faces a persistent threat from “infiltrators.”
This issue is also the issue of national security and change in the demographic contours of the state. The BJP is promising to identify and repatriate such individuals to the place they belong. The BJP is also saying that it has freed vast lands in the state from encroachment in the last ten years and showcasing it as evidence of decisive governance. This is despite the fact that these claims are yet to be corroborated by official data, which remains elusive.
Neither the Assam government nor the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has maintained verifiable and consolidated figures on the number of individuals identified, detained, or deported over the past decade. This absence of verifiable data has provided Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi an opportunity to question the credibility of the BJP’s claims, arguing that the issue is being raked up for electoral gains, whereas the reality on the ground is different.
The Congress wants to exploit the anti-incumbency and thus has focused on governance issues such as unemployment, inflation, and social welfare, to shift the narrative away from the emotive identity politics.The other things that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is banking on are a mix of welfare delivery and strong leadership. The Congress and its allies are attempting to build a coalition around economic concerns and institutional accountability. Yet, the ‘infiltration’ is the main issue in Assam today.
Assam’s contemporary history has hovered around identity — the Assam Movement and the subsequent updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) — has made questions of identity and migration deeply sensitive. This theme resonates with the people across regions and communities. As polling day approaches, the key question is whether voters will prioritise emotive appeals linked to identity and security, or vote for livelihood and governance issues.
The lack of official data raises broader concerns about transparency in democratic discourse. The Assam elections are not just a contest for power in a 126-member Assembly; they are also a test of how narratives shape electoral choices in contemporary India.
