I know how Himanta Biswa Sarma operates: Congress leader on Kuki militant chief’s claim

As a 2019 letter by Kuki militant leader SS Haokip alleging that BJP took help from the militant groups to win elections in northeast states come to the surface, the Congress trained its gun against former Congressman Himanta Biswa Sarma as his name featured in the letter.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday said Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘contacts with militants is old news’/ “I know how Himanta operates,” the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh said.

The 2019 letter written by Haokip was reportedly submitted as an annexure in an NIA court early this month in connection with the ongoing violence in Manipur. It said ‘Hemanta Bishwas Sarma’ and Ram Madhav took the help of the Kuki militant groups to win the 2017 assembly election. Despite a different spelling, the Congress said it was certain that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was mentioned in the letter.

“I took a very important role in the formation of BJP-led government in the state. To be very frank had these been not supported by us it would have been almost impossible to install the BJP-led government in the state. In the recently concluded Parliamentary Election, BJP candidate secured almost 80-90 per cent votes within the area of our operation,” the letter as quoted by reports said.

While Himanta did not comment on the allegations, Ram Madhav refuted the charges and said he did not remember meeting Kuki militants. On Wednesday, Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah sat on a dharna demanding the immediate arrest of the Assam chief minister under the National Security Act. “What has long been believed is now proven in black and white. It reinforces what I have been saying all along: Manipur is burning today because of the politics of the RSS/BJP,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

“Does cohabitating with a militant outfit not violate the oath of office by Assam CM? Does he have right to continue in office till the conclusion of the investigations?” Congress’s Randeep Singh Surjewala said.