Soaring vegetable prices due to Miyas of Assam CM criticized

GUWAHATI: Rising prices of vegetables in Assam’s largest city Guwahati have sparked a war of words between political opponents, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blaming the Miyas for the rising prices, drawing strong reactions from opposition parties.
While AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal said the Miyas were hurt by the chief minister’s comments, the Congress and other opposition parties accused the BJP and AIUDF of communal politics ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. Sniffed the nexus between.
Answering the questions of reporters on the high price of vegetables in Guwahati, Sarma had said, “The price of vegetables in the village is not so high. Here my vendors charge more than us. If the Assamese were vegetable sellers, they would not have run away from their own people.
“I will clean all the footpaths of Guwahati and I request our Assamese people to come forward and start their own business,” he added.
Bengali-speaking Muslims commonly referred to as Miyas in the state, this community is largely engaged in agricultural activities.

Reacting to Sarma’s statement, Ajmal said such words are offensive to a chief minister, who is the head of a state, and the community is feeling pain and resentment.
“It is creating communal division. If anything happens, the government and Himanta Biswa Sarma will be responsible,” the Lok Sabha MP added.
Ajmal also said that prices of vegetables are not under the control of the Miyas.
Urging Assamese youth to take up agriculture, he added, “We would welcome Assamese youth to join farming activities. But I don’t think they will do it because it requires a lot of labour. ”
Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah alleged that both Sarma and Ajmal were creating this Miyas-Assam conflict to further communal divide among the people.
“As elections are approaching, both of them want to divide people on religious lines. BJP has failed to address core issues like unemployment, inflation, illegal immigrants etc. is involved in the tactics of
Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi also claimed that such communal statements by Sarma are a ploy to divert people’s attention from important issues.
There are three main reasons for such communal politics. The BJP wants to divert attention from the draft delimitation proposal as the opposition has been able to make it clear to the people that the document does not favor the indigenous people.
“It also wants to travel through elections through religious polarization because it has failed to fulfill its promises. And also to hide the differences between the old and new members of the BJP,” Sivasagar said. The lawmaker added.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Hemanta Phukan also alleged that communal politics is a ploy by the BJP to hide its failures.
“The BJP has failed the people and to cover it up, they are resorting to communal politics as the elections are approaching. Ajmal is also helping him in this. I request the government to do politics of development as people will reject such communal tactics.”