'Not Targeted At Any Community': BJP's Assam Poll In-Charge On Evictions

The BJP-led Assam government has initiated several extensive eviction drives, citing claims of illegal land encroachment.

15 Mar 2026, 08:51 · www.ndtv.com

Guwahati:

Illegal immigration has been at the centre of the BJP's campaign in Assam. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have promised to identify and deport infiltrators to strengthen border security. The BJP-led Assam government has initiated several extensive eviction drives, citing claims of illegal land encroachment.

Now, taking a strong stand on the issue, the BJP's Assam poll in-charge Baijayant Panda has called illegal immigration an "assault on Assamese culture".

Speaking with NDTV's Padmaja Joshi and Ankit Tyagi at 'The Great Brahmaputra Dialogue', Panda said, "The reality is, Assam has faced the kind of invasion, and I won't use a softer word, I will call it invasion, that no other state in the country has seen, that I don't believe any other country in the world has seen."

"If you have a demographic that goes from eleven per cent to thirty-eight per cent from the time of independence till now, and not through natural causes, but through massive invasion of people who had themselves chosen to separate from the country. Now, what has this led to? It has led to an assault on Assamese culture. It has led to an assault on Assam's economy," he said.

Baijayant Panda also asserted that the eviction drives are fully justified. "Eviction from unauthorised lands has been a major action by the government. It is fully justified.

It is the law. It is simply the implementation of the law."

'Eviction Drives Not Targeted At Any Community'

Around 1.5 lakh bighas or 49,500 acres across the state have been freed from encroachment in the last five years, according to data shared by the government in the Assam assembly.

Himanta Biswa Sarma recently accepted a 'bulldozer salute' during the BJP's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra', and proclaimed that if he returns to power after the assembly polls, eviction drives would be carried out on five lakh bighas (over 1.65 lakh acres) of land.

The bulldozer action has been criticised by the opposition leaders, who have called it "selective evictions of the minorities".

The BJP's trusted election strategist, who was behind the party's poll victory in the 2021 assembly elections, downplayed the opposition charge. "The reality is, if the vast majority of illegal occupants and illegal land grabbers belong to a certain background, obviously, they will be the ones who will be evicted. But it is not targeted at any community; it is targeted at implementing the law of the land."

"When millions of infiltrations have happened over a period of more than seventy years. In ten years, massive action has been taken, and large numbers of people have been expelled from their illegal occupation and pushed back. But a seventy-year backlog does deserve a time frame to have a complete resolution of the process, and that is happening," said Panda.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the assembly election schedule for Assam, along with those of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry this evening. The term of the 126-member legislative assembly of Assam will end on May 20.

In the 2021 elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), won 75 seats. The BJP is the largest partner in the alliance with 60 seats. Voter turnout was as high as 86.2 per cent with over 2. 2 crore registered voters in 2021.

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