Assam: More anti-CAA faces join hands with BJP

GUWAHATI: The anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) lobby in Assam received some serious blows from the artistes’ fraternity ahead of the assembly polls slated early next year.
The artistes’ fraternity, headed by popular singer Zubeen Garg, was an integral part of the anti-CAA front led by students’ body All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) soon after the legislation was passed in Parliament in December last year. But the singer-actor faced heavy criticism after meeting chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and agriculture minister Atul Bora recently. Bora even said his department intended to make Zubeen the ambassador for agriculture.
The goodwill gesture shown to the BJP-ledgovernment by Zubeen seems to have set a precedent. One after the other, members of the artist fraternity, who joined the anti-CAA agitation from December last year, are now joining BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly polls. A day after popular actor from Assamese cine industry Jatin Bora returned to BJP, two more leading personalities from the state’s cultural arena — singer Vidya Sagar and actor Asha Bordoloi — joined the saffron party in a ceremony at the state BJP headquarters here in the presence of Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass on Tuesday.
Vidya Sagar, however, claimed that he has been with BJP since 2009 but not as an “active member”. “I joined BJP in 2009 after getting attracted to the party’s ideology, though the party was not in a good position in the state at that time. Since then, my moral support has been with BJP,” he said.
Vidya Sagar alleged that while going ahead to fulfill their vested political interests, some of the leaders of the anti-CAA movement have deviated from their goal. “The political equations of the leaders are getting priority over the primary goal of the anti-CAA movement. Through misinterpretation (of the CAA), the people of Assam were driven emotionally, else the movement would have continued,” he alleged.
Asha Bordoloi, on the other hand, said, “I want to clarify that I never went to the anti-CAA agitation. I had faith that BJP will never work against the people of Assam. I have joined the party so that I can work for the party.”
A statement issued by the state BJP said along with Vidya Sagar and Asha Bordoloi, former sports secretary of Aasu, Tapan Das and noted academic Prabha Choudhari Dastidar formally joined the party on Tuesday.
Assam BJP president, Ranjeet Kumar Dass said people from various walks of life have expressed their willingness to join BJP. “The achievements of the BJP-led government in the last four years cannot be compared with that of the 15-year rule of Congress,” he added.