Guwahati, March 30: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asserted that different communities in Assam are living in harmony under BJP rule, while accusing the Congress of appeasing “Bangladeshi-Miyas” during its tenure.

Addressing a series of election rallies, Sarma said, “We want to work for the people living in Assam; the Assamese, Bengali and Hindi-speaking people, Gorkhas, tribals, all communities. All the communities are in harmony because the BJP is in power.”

He alleged that Congress governments had ignored indigenous communities, claiming, “You can see for yourself now that after the BJP came to power, the Bangladeshi-Miyas have been cut to size. During this term, we broke the hands and legs of the Bangladeshi-Miyas politically; next time we will break their backbone so that they cannot live peacefully in Assam.”

The term Miya, originally a pejorative for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, has in recent years been reclaimed by activists from the community as a gesture of defiance.

Sarma highlighted his repeated visits to Majuli, saying he was the first chief minister to visit the river island at least 15 times. He credited the BJP with initiating development there since 2016, contrasting it with Congress’s alleged neglect.

Taking aim at the Congress’s slogan Natun Bor Asom (new greater Assam), Sarma said, “We want our ‘Bor Asom’ on the ideals of Sankardev and Chaolung Sukapha, not a ‘Natun Bor Asom’ of Bangladeshi-Miyas.”