Assam CM reiterates that evictions in state will continue after BJP wins big in Northeast

Guwahati: After the BJP and its allies' resounding victory in the bypolls yesterday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reiterated that his government will continue the eviction drives in areas where the government and forest lands have been encroached upon, but the government will also 'survey' lands available to resettle the evicted.

Himanta Sarma's government was heavily criticised after two people, including a 12-year-old, were killed in police firing when an eviction drive in Assam's Darrang district turned violent in September.

"We will continue with the evictions in the area of lower Assam, like Baghbar and Jania from where people were moved to other areas in the pretext of losing land due to erosion. But when I conduct aerial surveys, I see a lot of land available for settlement. We will do a survey of the land in the Char areas of Assam," Mr Sarma said.

The Chief Minister also praised the stellar performance by the BJP and its allies who have won all the 10 seats in the northeastern states in the bypolls yesterday.

He credited the power-packed perormance of NDA in the bypoll in the five assembly seats in the state, whose results were declared during the day, to the development work by his government in the last five-and-half months and asserted that all poll promises will be fulfilled. He said the mandate is also recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to uplift the northeast region

"This victory in Assam is not a normal victory because in every seat the victory margins are huge. We did not get such margins even in the general elections. In many seats, the BJP and the NDA have managed to a win by a record margin," he added.

"We have won all the three seats in Meghalaya. In Nagaland, a partner party won one seat uncontested and in Mizoram, the Mizo National Front, a part of the NDA, has won."

"People of the northeast have once again reposed their faith in the leadership of PM Modi. This is a victory of PM's development initiatives," Mr Sarma added