Congress Bets on Mass Mobilisation as Gogoi Targets ‘Politics of Fear’ at Bongaigaon Meet

Guwahati: Positioning the Congress as a resurgent force driven by public mobilisation, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday said the ruling BJP was losing its grip on Assam as people increasingly rejected what he described as a “politics of fear, syndicates, and corruption.”

Addressing a packed Mandal Convention at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon, Gogoi accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of governing through intimidation and institutional control rather than public mandate. He alleged that the Chief Minister remained in power by misusing the police and the Home Department, adding that insecurity over losing office now defined the BJP’s politics in the state.

“The BJP is no longer confident of the people. That is why fear has become its main political weapon,” Gogoi told party workers and supporters, asserting that the Congress was steadily rebuilding its organisational strength across Assam.

The convention, attended by AICC observer Bandhu Tirkey, AICC secretary Prithviraj Sathe, MP Rakibul Hussain, Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, former MP Abdul Khaleque, and several MLAs, focused on projecting Congress unity and grassroots expansion ahead of the next electoral battles.

Gogoi said the large crowds at Congress programmes across Upper, Central, and Lower Assam reflected growing public discontent with the BJP government. “From the hills to the plains, people are turning up in large numbers without inducements or pressure. This response shows that the Congress is once again becoming the natural platform for people’s aspirations,” he said.

Referring to the recent Lok Sabha elections, Gogoi argued that the BJP’s defeat in Jorhat despite an aggressive, high-profile campaign marked a turning point. “Money power, repeated prime ministerial visits, and the deployment of the entire cabinet could not override the people’s verdict. That message will echo in other constituencies as well,” he said.

The APCC president accused the BJP of masking governance failures with communal rhetoric while illegal syndicates continued to flourish. Without naming individuals repeatedly, he alleged that cow-smuggling, coal, and betel-nut syndicates had expanded under the current dispensation, questioning the moral claims of the ruling party. He described the Chief Minister as a divisive figure whose politics deepened social polarisation rather than addressing unemployment, education, and public welfare.

Gogoi also raised allegations of nepotism and misuse of public resources, claiming that concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few had weakened institutions and public trust. “When schools are shut, villages get liquor shops, and ordinary citizens are harassed in the name of evictions, it becomes clear whose interests the government is serving,” he said.

AICC observer Bandhu Tirkey, drawing parallels with Jharkhand, said attempts to silence opposition leaders through state power had repeatedly failed in India. “People ultimately defeat politics rooted in fear and hatred,” he remarked, urging Assam’s voters to reclaim democratic space.

MP Rakibul Hussain said the BJP was unnerved by the scale of voluntary participation at Congress meetings. “Threats and inducements no longer work. People are coming on their own because they want change,” he said.

Congress leaders at the convention maintained that sustained grassroots engagement, rather than spectacle-driven politics, would define the party’s strategy as it seeks to return to power in Assam.

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