Loading dispatches...
← Return to Newsroomgeneral
Himanta Biswa Sarma at Idea Exchange: ‘Don’t think polarisation needed in Assam, I controlled the menace’
Breaking
Cornell president says university 'must do better' after frat house rape allegations
New DelhiJul 4, 2026 04:26 AM IST Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma at Idea Exchange, Friday. (Photo: Renuka Puri)Assam needed a “polarising figure” in order to restore the confidence of the state’s indigenous population and, now that “people feel that there is a government which will not take care of just one community”, there is no need for polarisation, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Responding to questions on a wide range of issues at The Indian Express Idea Exchange Friday, Sarma also spoke about the conflict in Manipur, saying it could only be settled by the communities involved.Speaking about the Congress, he accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing the main opposition party from its traditional “centrist” politics towards a Left-influenced, caste-focused line “borrowed” from JNU. Asked whether a moderate face of Sarma would be seen in the next five years after his re-election in May, he said: “I do not think polarisation is required in Assam. I have controlled that menace. Now nobody can put a finger on Assamese people. No one has the guts to encroach on the land of temples, nobody has the guts to pick up a girl without her consent. Now people have been streamlined, people have become law abiding. Once everyone abides by the law, I do not need to talk every day. I have to speak whenever it is required.” According to Sarma, the indigenous community, which includes “Assamese Muslims”, was frustrated at feeling it was turning into a minority, and needed a polarising figure who would speak for it. “Because we did not have a figure, (there was) reason for frustration. I saw the requirement. Now people feel confident. Nothing has changed numerically, but people feel that there is a government which will not take care of just one community but they will listen to us too. Earlier, they felt they were fragmented and would not have the power to install a government of their own,” he said. “People wanted a polarising figure… and I served that purpose,” he said.Story continues below this ad At the state polls this year, Sarma, who is known for his controversial remarks, led the BJP to a resounding victory, reducing the Congress to 19 seats in the 126-member Assembly. Asked about the ongoing tensions in Manipur, Sarma maintained that the conflict was between communities and could only be resolved through discussions between them, not outside intervention. “In Manipur, the conflict is between the communities — of Kukis and Meiteis, and now between Kukis and Nagas. It’s very strong and can never be resolved by outside intervention. We can restore law and order. But we cannot sit two brothers and settle their dispute. We can encourage, but cannot force… You cannot settle those disputes, particularly among the tribal communities.. There is no memorandum or charter of demands for the Government of India. They say it’s their fight and that they should find a solution,” he said. “You cannot put a rifle on them and say if you don’t resolve the issues before 6 o’clock tomorrow we will do something. We can maintain law and order but a solution has to come from the community. We can just encourage them for discussions,” he said.Story continues below this ad Sarma, who has been a critic of Rahul Gandhi ever since he left the Congress in 2015, alleged that the opposition party has shifted its ideological position from centrist to Leftist. “Congress never asked questions like ‘what’s your caste?’ Rahul Gandhi asked this to a reporter. He typically borrowed this from the JNU and from the Left. When he wants to make a chief minister from his party he never asks his jaati (caste)… When he replaced OBC Siddaramaiah (in Karnataka) with a (D K) Shivkumar, a non-OBC, he did not ask his caste. This is typical Left style: what he says is not practiced in their families. Now the slogans of the Congress and AISA’s slogans are similar,” he said. “I was in Congress for 22 years. It never had dafli-wala (the handheld drum widely used in street prote
Considered one of the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) rising stars, Saayoni Ghosh’s decision to join the bloc of rebel MPs has been one of the more surprising defections for many inside the Mamata Banerjee-led party, given her known proximity to the former Chief Minister and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.“We never thought Saayoni would join the rebel bloc because Abhishek Banerjee brought her into politics and Mamata Banerjee always preferred her and made her a leader even before she proved her credibility. This is also a lesson for Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee because they always kept faith in film artists rather than the party’s full-time workers and leaders,” said a senior TMC leader close to the former CM.TMC MP Mahua Moitra said she was left “shocked” at Ghosh’s exit. “Saayoni is like my child, like my sister. If anybody else left, I would feel no pain. (But) I look at her and she’s old enough to be my daughter. I really loved her like that. And I believe she has an excellent future. She has come from nothing, is a very hard worker, and is extremely talented… Maybe it’s a combination of fear and other things. She has a father. I don’t know what it is. Because I can vouch that she’s not a disloyal, profiteering person. She’s not interested in money. She leads a fairly simple life and works all the time. Look at what the party has given her in only five years… When people like that do that (think of jumping ship), it’s very, very upsetting. Everyone has their own destiny. But still my advice to her would be, you know, overcome fear, conquer fear. There is life ahead,” Moitra told The Indian Express in a recent interview. As the crisis in the TMC deepened, Ghosh travelled to New Delhi over the weekend amid intense speculation about her future, saying she would speak “when the time is right”. On Sunday, the rebel MPs, including Ghosh, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, announcing their merger with a little-known regional outfit and seeking recognition as a separate group in Parliament. Realising that Saayoni had changed sides, Mamata Banerjee initiated an organisational reshuffle and removed her as Trinamool Youth Congress president, replacing her with Arnab Banerjee. Political journey In 2021, Ghosh’s entry into active politics proved to be a turning point for the TMC, which at the time was seeing prominent leaders exit the party to join the BJP. Before Ghosh officially joined the TMC ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls, she had been openly critical of the BJP and was known to be close to the Left in Bengal. That year, she made her electoral debut from the Asansol South Assembly constituency against BJP’s Agnimitra Paul. Though Ghosh lost to Paul by under 4,500 votes, her energetic campaigning caught the eye of the TMC leadership. Shortly after the TMC returned to power in the 2021 Assembly polls, the party leadership entrusted Ghosh with greater responsibility, appointing her as Abhishek Banerjee’s replacement as the president of the Trinamool Youth Congress. Ghosh, hardly a reticent politician, chose to voice her opinions loudly, harnessing social media to present her takes on national issues. In November 2021, while campaigning for the TMC in Tripura’s civic body elections, Ghosh was arrested by the police on charges of promoting enmity between people, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. An FIR was also registered against her for allegedly disturbing a rally of then CM Biplab Kumar Deb. In June 2023, Ghosh was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in the school jobs scam. Sources in the ED had said that Ghosh’s name surfaced multiple times during interrogation of those arrested in connection with its probe, in which former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee had been arrested. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ghosh was fielded from the high-profile Jadavpur constituency of Kolkata, the very s
New DelhiJun 10, 2026 07:58 PM IST Modi completed 4,399 consecutive days in office on Wednesday, surpassing the record of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who served continuously for 4,398 days. (@BJP4India/X) As Narendra Modi scripted history by becoming India’s longest continuously serving Prime Minister, the NDA leader addressed his party colleagues and took a dig at Congress saying, ‘Hindu Growth Rate’ was attempt to whitewash Congress’s failure. The third time PM said, “I never thought that I would get the opportunity to be the longest serving elected PM. This is my good fortune. It’s only with God’s grace that this was possible, and for me, people are like God… This has been like a yagna in which you all contributed. I thank all such friends today.”Modi said that the NDA family also passed a resolution on the occasion. He said it was a collective achievement of the NDA and each party in it, and not his individual achievement. “It is the maturity of the people that they gave me a chance to serve them for such a long time. The earlier decades’ instability harmed the country,” he said, adding that people were today witnessing the benefits of a stable government. Modi recalled that he said in 2014 that there was a new hope in the minds of people. “After the betrayal by the Congress, the people placed their trust upon us. And we strengthened people’s faith in our country. The sun of hope that dawned in 2014 has now become a prakash punj of confidence,” Modi said. Further, Modi said, as many as 25-crore people had come out of poverty in these years, showing that the policies of the government were correct. He added that this gave confidence to all poor people that their dreams would come true. Modi underlined that the government would have to work round the clock to fulfill the aspirations of the people. © IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
New DelhiJun 9, 2026 09:27 PM IST Congress MP Sonia Gandhi in a conversation with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee during the INDIA bloc meeting, in New Delhi, Monday, June 8. (PTI Photo)As the West Bengal CID Tuesday conducted searches at the Trinamool Congress’s central party office in Kolkata’s Kalighat and at the office of its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Camac Street as part of its investigation into the alleged Assembly signature forgery case, party chief Mamata Banerjee met Congress Parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the latter’s residence in Delhi. Sources in the TMC said Mamata’s meeting was to discuss coordination among the INDIA bloc parties. The meeting at Sonia’s 10, Janpath, residence in Delhi lasted an hour.“The meeting was about the INDIA bloc working together in unity,” said a senior party MP. “Sonia ji and our leader (Mamata) have a strong personal relationship that goes back decades. If they meet, it is natural. If Didi is in Delhi, she will meet allies and Sonia ji is the seniormost among Opposition leaders so she met her,” said another senior party MP, considered close to Mamata. In a statement, TMC leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said: “Political vendetta shamelessly timed! Exactly at the same time as TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee was having a meeting today in Delhi with Mrs Sonia Gandhi, CID was forcefully trying to enter the AITC party headquarters adjoining residence in Kolkata. First loot vote, now loot files of a political rival. Democracy? Main entrance overloaded with CRPF.” Earlier in the day, the TMC said that it was not worried by the exits of its leaders and that while the BJP may have power and government, it has “Maa, Maati and Maanush” (mother, soil, people) by its side. The Mamata Banerjee-led party is facing a major crisis. A rebel group, led by senior Trinamool leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, saying they want to join the NDA. This group claims it has the support of 20 Lok Sabha MPs, a claim the party leadership has contested, saying the rebels were 12 in number. This comes days after 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs rebelled and challenged Mamata Banerjee’s choice of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as their leader in the Assembly.Story continues below this ad At a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee, who was accompanied by party colleague Kirti Azad, said, “We are not worried about who leaves. We need fresh blood, committed workers and leaders who stand by the party during difficult times. Our leader is Mamata Banerjee. Our symbol is the Trinamool Congress symbol. Our strength comes from our workers and the people of Bengal. You may have power, money, government machinery, agencies, vehicles, security and property. We have Maa, Maati and Maanush.” Kalyan Banerjee said the rebel MPs who went to Bhupender Yadav’s residence on Monday and held meetings with Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari have effectively become BJP. “Today, their leader is Narendra Modi. They may use different words, but the people of Bengal understand exactly what is happening,” he said. The Trinamool leader challenged rebel MPs to go to their constituencies and meet party workers who campaigned for them and stood by them during elections. “Let them face those workers and explain their actions,” Kalyan Banerjee said, adding these leaders won elections in the name of Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, and on the Trinamool Congress symbol. “If they had grievances against the leadership, why did they not raise them before the elections? Why did they campaign in the name of Mamata Banerjee and praise her development work before polling?” he said. Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During h
Discussion (0)