Congress leader Ripun Bora terms Himanta Biswa Sarma's Assam Accord push 'political gimmick'

Congress leader Ripun Bora has labelled Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's recent push for the implementation of the Assam Accord as a "political gimmick" aimed at securing support for the 2026 assembly elections. 

During a press conference, Bora expressed scepticism regarding Sarma's sincerity in implementing the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma Committee on the Accord, particularly Clause 6, which seeks to protect the rights and interests of Assam's Indigenous population.

Bora, a former MP, pointed out that while the state government claims to be moving forward with several recommendations, the report has not yet been forwarded to the Centre, which initially set up the committee. He emphasized that although the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured Parliament that the recommendations would be implemented "in letter and spirit," no significant progress has been made.

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Bora highlighted that out of the 67 recommendations, 57 fall under the purview of the state government, while 12 are to be implemented by the Centre, and 14 fall under the Concurrent List, requiring joint execution by both the Centre and state. However, he alleged that none of these had been sent to the central government, raising doubts about the intentions of the Assam administration.

The Assam government had earlier announced, on September 4, that it would implement 57 of the committee's 67 recommendations, which focus on protecting the land, language, and culture of the state's indigenous people. Despite these announcements, Bora believes that the BJP-led government's efforts are primarily aimed at electoral gains ahead of the 2026 assembly polls, rather than genuine implementation of the Assam Accord.

The Assam Accord, signed in 1985 following a six-year-long anti-foreigner movement, includes provisions for detecting, deleting, and deporting all foreigners who entered the state after March 25, 1971. Although the Union Home Ministry established the High-Level Committee (HLC) in 2020 to expedite the Accord's implementation, Bora contends that key elements remain unresolved due to political manoeuvring.