Rahul to hit campaign trail in Assam on April 3

  • | Monday | 1st April, 2019

Guwahati: Congress president Rahul Gandhi , fighting to regain his party’s lost foothold in the northeast, will hit the campaign trail in Assam on April 3 and 4. The Assam unit had then flagged the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as a priority.“It’s early to say whether he would speak on the bill. Rahul, on his part, has been vocal about his intention to stop the bill if it is ever introduced again. In addresses by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah , the bill did not find mention. NRC update was initiated under Manmohan Singh and Tarun Gogoi and Rahul’s stance against the citizenship bill will bolster his commitment that “no genuine Indian” will be left out of NRC.

Guwahati: Congress president Rahul Gandhi , fighting to regain his party’s lost foothold in the northeast, will hit the campaign trail in Assam on April 3 and 4. The question uppermost on the state Congress unit’s mind, however, is how to deal with the contentious subject of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.During protests against the bill, which proposes citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Rahul took a clear stand against it. He has also claimed credit for stonewalling the bill in Rajya Sabha, where it could not be introduced and, consequently, is set to lapse.The itinerary of his visit, however, has put the party in a fix.The two rallies he will address on the first day of his visit are in Kaliabor and Lakhimpur constituencies. Both of these are in the Brahmaputra Valley where the sentiment has predominantly been against the bill. However, the following day, he will address a rally at Karimganj in the Barak Valley, the Bengali-majority area where the bill had received overwhelming support.Last month, the All India Congress Committee had consulted all its state units for preparing the Lok Sabha election manifesto. The Assam unit had then flagged the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as a priority.“It’s early to say whether he would speak on the bill. There are many other issues that he would like to tell the people of Assam like the restoration of special status to the state, reviving the industrial investment policy for northeast and the right to health besides employment generation,” a Congress leader said.Rival BJP skipped the contentious issue altogether. In addresses by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah , the bill did not find mention. BJP had come under immense pressure, especially from indigenous communities, for pushing a bill that would “threaten” the identity of indigenous people. So, till now, BJP leaders have played it safe in its rallies and stuck to the “migrant-free Assam” rhetoric without any specific mention of how it intends to bring this about.Elsewhere, BJP has made it clear that the bill will be brought back. Rahul, on his part, has been vocal about his intention to stop the bill if it is ever introduced again. In the Barak Valley, where Congress holds one of the two seats, it will be difficult for the Grand Old Party to explain this stance.Rahul will, however, have an advantage over Modi and Shah when it comes to any mention of the National Register of Citizens ( NRC ), which is being updated in the state to identify Indian nationals and, in the process, those who entered India “illegally”.For Modi and Shah, bringing up NRC was difficult because anti-citizenship bill protests had centred around the futility of the NRC update in case the citizenship bill were passed. Congress is better placed. NRC update was initiated under Manmohan Singh and Tarun Gogoi and Rahul’s stance against the citizenship bill will bolster his commitment that “no genuine Indian” will be left out of NRC.

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