In a scathing intervention ahead of the upcoming Assam elections, Mira Borthakur Goswami, President of the Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress criticized All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) Chief Adviser Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharjya. With just 119 days remaining until polling, she accused him of having remained silent all these years and only raising his voice now when elections are imminent.
Borthakur questioned why Bhattacharjya, a longtime leader of AASU did not speak up earlier when the BJP came to power both at the Centre and in Assam. “You have stayed quiet since they came in,” she said. “Now that only 119 days are left, you speak of indigenous rights? What about before?” she asked.
Her attack comes amid a fresh round of talks; the third discussion, she noted between the Assam government and AASU regarding the implementation of the Biplab Sarma Committee report, which was set up to operationalize Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord. The accord guarantees constitutional, administrative, and linguistic safeguards to Assamese people. According to public reports, the state government has approved 57 out of 67 recommendations from the Sarma panel. 
Bhattacharjya has reportedly insisted that all the committee’s recommendations should be implemented not just the subset approved by the cabinet.
Borthakur challenged him directly: “Are you at peace now that some have been accepted? What about the rest?”
In her critique, Borthakur raised a number of pointed questions: “You speak of preserving our language but what about the more than 7,000 Assamese-medium schools that have shut down?” she asked, referring to the reported drop in Assamese-language education. She also brought up land issues: “You talk of land rights, but what about the 57,000 bighas of land allegedly allocated to Adani by the government?”
These land allocations, she claimed, betray the very indigenous communities she says AASU is fighting for. Why was there silence then, she insisted, and a flurry of speeches now? According to Borthakur, Bhattacharjya’s activism is “tied to electoral timing.”
She also attacked what she described as AASU’s inaction on economic issues. “You yourself have pointed out that there are 48 lakh educated people in Assam without jobs,” she said, emphasizing that high unemployment continues even though the Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had promised “five lakh jobs every year.” She accused the government of shuffling vacancy lists, removing some from rolls and failing to make positions permanent while youth remain unemployed and suicide rates reportedly rise.
Borthakur said that AASU under Bhattacharjya has become all talk and no action: “You discuss and discuss, but do nothing.” She appealed to him as a senior leader: “You are high-profile. If you truly care, do more than just meeting and memoranda act.”
She also questioned the role of state leaders associated with the Assam Accord. “What about Atul Bora, the minister in charge of implementing the Accord? What has he done?” she asked.
Borthakur said that she is 52 years old now and has watched Bhattacharjya for decades. She recalled how schools closed, how the Assam language lost ground and how AASU’s response was muted. “You never spoke when it mattered. Now you speak. But will it change anything?”
