Titapore, Assam:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma treats polygamy, child marriage and other topics related to the ‘Miya’ community as non-issues in the Lok Sabha elections, Claims he raises these issues because he wants social transformation from minorities, not their votes.

Speaking to PTI news agency in Titapore, Jorhat, Mr. Sarma also said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has three of the 14 Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Assam. Seats will be “competed” and it will be a sweep. The saffron party won the remaining 11 seats in the state.

“I always say getting the vote is another thing. We want to see real development in minority communities. Now, whether they give me their vote or I ask them for their vote – it doesn’t matter,” he said when asked if There has been a reexamination of his earlier stance of not seeking Miya votes for the BJP.

“Miya” was originally a derogatory term for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, who are often viewed by non-Bengali speakers as immigrants from Bangladesh. In recent years, community activists have begun adopting the term as a gesture of defiance.

“Material things where a community should prosper. If polygamy prevails in that community, how will they prosper? If child marriage continues, how will they prosper?” asked Mr Sarma.

Likewise, if girl children do not receive education or receive equal property rights, the ‘Miya’ community will not progress compared to other sections of society, he added.

“So my attitude towards minority communities is positive. Stop madrassa education and give students common education, stop polygamy, stop child marriage, give equal property rights to girls or women.

“I am going to the minority areas of Assam, not to discuss votes. But I am talking about these issues. You will see me visiting different minority areas in this election and I will only talk about these issues,” Chief the minister asserted.

Asked whether topics such as polygamy or child marriage were electoral issues, he responded in the negative.

“For me, these are not election issues. Through these issues, we can bring social change in Assam. Elections are elections, but my goals are bigger than elections. So, I am using electoral politics to achieve these Target.

“I will go to minority areas and I will not say vote or not vote. I will say these are issues close to my heart,” Mr Sarma said.

In October last year, the NEDA convenor had said that the PPP did not need the votes of the “Miya” people of the Char region (river vegetation islands) for the next 10 years until they reformed themselves by abandoning old customs such as child marriage.

However, his stance has softened, saying in February this year that he will not seek “Palace” votes in the next two years because there is still a lot of welfare work to be done before that, such as fighting child marriage and encroachment.

At a campaign meeting in Morigaon last month, Mr. Sarma further downplayed his stance and exuded confidence that girls, women and youths from the ‘Miya’ community would win the election in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state. Vote for the BJP in the survey as they are doing a great job in uplifting these minority populations.

Asked about the challenge raised by the united opposition during the Lok Sabha polls, the senior BJP leader told PTI: “I don’t think there is any contest in Assam except for three seats. First of all, No matter what – the so-called opposition unity has no impact at all. Because no opposition party has any vote bank in Assam.”

He added that the main opponents remained the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) as the dozens of opposition parties in the anti-BJP bloc recorded very negligible votes.

“Our fight will be limited to three seats and there will be no fight in the remaining 11 seats. The party will win resoundingly,” Mr Sarma said.

He, however, refused to name the three seats where the BJP-led alliance will face opposition candidates.

In the ruling NDA, the PPP has nominated 11 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has nominated 2 candidates and the United People’s Liberal Party (UPPL) has announced 1 candidate.

Mr Sarma, who initially assessed winning 11 seats from Assam, later increased the number of likely winning candidates to 13.

Asked about the reasons for reducing the number of certain seats, he said: “As the election progressed, we made good progress in two of the three seats. Our party survey also showed that we gained Good support.”

“So, I will set at least 11 seats and we can increase it to 13 out of 14 seats – that is my assessment. I think we have achieved the target.” The BJP has nine seats in the current Lok Sabha from Among the state’s parliamentarians, the Congress has 3 seats and the AIUDF has 1 seat. There is also an independent MP.

Talking about the ongoing election campaign, Mr. Sarma said it was all due to the good work done by the central government for the Northeast and Assam, and for the peace, tranquility and development in the state post-2014.

“So the entire pivot of the campaign is Narendra Modi. The focus of the election is on the tremendous development work he has done for Assam and his emotional and cultural connect with the state.

Mr Sarma added: “He (Narendra Modi) visited 26 times as Prime Minister, he always wore Assam garmocha, he stayed one night in Kaziranga and recently he came To Assam to inaugurate a giant statue of Lachit Borphukan.”

When asked about his dance moves that went viral during the election campaign, the chief minister explained that Assam is very culturally rich and music plays an important role in everyone’s life.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)