Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur Goswami on Friday made a sharp attack on Ratabari MLA Bijoy Malakar and the ruling BJP government. Speaking in Dispur, she demanded that the MLA be removed and the government respond to allegations relating to citizenship and land belonging to indigenous people.
Borthakur raised slogans in front of supporters. She said, “Hur hur hur hur hur hur hurray… send off the Bangladeshi MLA Bijoy Malakar from Dispur. Hur hur hur hur hur hur hurray… return the 57,000 bighas of land belonging to tribal and indigenous people from Adani back to the tribal people.” The slogans were directed at both Malakar and the state government.
Her remarks came amid rising political tension and debate around the allegation that the MLA’s citizenship status has been questioned in legal proceedings. Opposition parties claim this is a matter of public interest and linked to the promised protection of Assamese identity. 
Earlier, Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia also spoke strongly on the issue. He said that the controversy surrounding Malakar exposes what he called BJP’s “anti-Assamese hypocrisy” and a direct violation of the Assam Accord. Saikia argued that the BJP has claimed repeatedly that it protects Assamese people, but its silence now raises serious concerns.
Saikia said, “This is a clear violation of the Assam Accord. If such allegations arise and documents circulate questioning citizenship after the cut-off date, the government must act. But BJP has chosen silence.” He added that BJP leaders earlier accused Congress of harbouring foreigners, but when allegations surface against their own MLA, they remain quiet.
The Opposition has pointed to previous incidents in the Assembly when BJP accused the Congress of allowing the names of suspected foreigners into electoral rolls. Saikia said the inconsistency shows selective enforcement and political convenience.
The issue comes at a sensitive time. In Assam, the BJP’s growth has rested on its narrative of protecting Assamese identity and curbing illegal immigration from Bangladesh. The party campaigned strongly on anti-influx sentiment during the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections and oversaw NRC monitoring and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the national level.
