‘Jatiya Nayak’ Sarbananda Sonowal rides in helicopter to escape Protesters’ wrath

Guwahati, January 7, 2019:

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s rise to top has been meteoric, to say the least. The soft-spoken Assamese leader was thrust into the limelight as a ‘Jatiya Nayak’ by BJP leaders who saw the well-mannered Sonowal as a crutch in order to gain a strong foothold in Assam.

But now, after a tumultuous two years of governance, Sonowal finds himself in the crosshairs of his people who see the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 as a direct threat to Assamese identity.

Sonowal reached Makum in Tinsukia district for the bhoomi pujan and laying of foundation stone of the medical college in Tinsukia, but because of protests which have erupted across the state, the Chief Minister had to be escorted from Dibrugarh to Tinsukia, a distance of a mere 45 kms, in a helicopter due to safety concerns. It can be argued that the Chief Minister has failed his promise to uphold the “jati”, “mati” and “bheti” of Assam, and now he has to take the escape route of a helicopter to save his nose.

Controversy followed the Chief Minister in his travels as in Tinsukia too as effigies of the Chief Minister as well as those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister as well as NEDA Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma were burned by activists in Thanasarali.

Sonowal's BJP party has come under fire for its resolve to implement the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. The BJP's wounds are further exacerbated by the withdrawal of support of allies AGP and its leader Atul Bora. But despite the agitations, the BJP intends to pass the Bill in the Parliament tomorrow. Meanwhile, January 8 has been declared a bandh by various organizations.