Raijor Dal MLA from Sivasagar and firebrand farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi speaks to TOI’s Kangkan Kalita on his past and new plans.
Excerpts:From Congress to BJP, you have been a political prisoner whose arrest was allegedly planned by governments to end popular movements like the ones against big dams and CAA.
Many organizations joined protests in Assam but why KMSS and Akhil Gogoi gets the most harsh treatment?AG: Our organisation has been consistently opposing the anti-people policies of the government.
Over the last two decades, we have stood by the poor, marginalised and deprived sections of society.
Our organisation is vocal for strengthening India’s federal structure.
We try our best to stand with the larger political, economic, cultural and environmental rights of the masses, exposing the real character of both the BJP and the erstwhile Congress government.
Since we unmask the anti-people activities of the government, we are being consistently attacked.
You have come out of judicial custody after a long time.
It’s a crucial juncture not only for Assam politics but Indian politics too.
Opposition parties are trying to unite to unseat BJP in 2024 from Delhi.
What role Raijor Dal and Akhil Gogoi are going to play in the Lok Sabha polls? Are you targeting only the 2026 Assam election?AG: Absolutely not.
We will consider all elections seriously so that India’s democratic tradition and constitutional dreams are protected.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election is very important for the future of India.
Our party will soon reach out to opposition parties to decisively unseat the present government in 2024.
We have no doubt that majority of our countrymen does not want the present BJP government to lead our country anymore.
The Narendra Modi-led government is trying its best to change the idea of India.
I do not need to repeat here the track record of the Modi-led government whether it is GST, demonetisation, Covid-19, communalisation, interreference in judicial matters or saffronisation of educational institutes.
We need to ensure a better future for our next generation.
All eyes were on Sivasagar this time.
People gave a decisive mandate against ruling BJP here though other anti-CAA leaders from RD and AJP had to bite the dust.
Is it Akhil Gogoi’s charisma that worked?AG: Not at all.
The credit goes to the political leadership of our party workers and support that came from the young generation.
The Sivasagar constituency has a long heritage of democratic politics.
They voted overwhelmingly to upheld these causes.
It was a clear mandate against the authoritarian tendency of the BJP government, both in Assam and Delhi.
Five years later, do you think Raijor Dal can make a massive turnaround like your friend Kejriwal and his AAP did in Delhi?AG: Raijor Dal dreams of an Assam which can be proud of its prosperity, equality, pholds the best democratic practices, and strives for equality of each citizen irrespective of their language and religion.
We will oppose all kind of communal politics.
Communal politics has no place in Assam.
People say your activism during anti-CAA protests led to your arrest.
But NIA booked you under UAPA.
Is the government vindictive and really arrest people under such Acts to gag popular voice?AG: The two judgements of the NIA court prove that I was arrested, harassed and threatened for challenging the CAA and other anti-people and anti-Assam activities of the BJP government.
My arrest briefly demoralised our workers.
The government started work on Lower Subansiri hydropower project and Assam’s highways are now full of toll-gates.
The hydro-power projects will bring doom to upper Assam villages and towns.
A couple of tiny hydropower projects in Bhutan or the NEEPCO’s Ranganadi project have caused so much pain already.
Financially, Assam’s stake is very worrying.
The BJP government has removed Assam’s special category status.
Post-GST, Assam’s economy is struggling to survive.
What is your ideology? You came close to CPI-ML (PCC) during your Cotton College days.
But you were not a member of that Naxalite group headed by late Vaskar Nandy.
Why the government has tried to tag you as a Maoist time and again? What’s the connection?AG: I and our organisation have always believed in democratic politics.
Whenever I defend the rights of Assam, tribals and the minorities, I will be either called a Maoist or anti-national.
In 2017, when our organisation opposed the eviction of hundreds of villagers in the neighbourhood of Kaziranga National Park, I was arrested under NSA and was branded as “pro-Bangaldeshi”.
Our ideological position is clear: All Indian citizens irrespective of religion, language, ethnicity, caste, class must have equal and equitable rights, whether it is economic, political, social and cultural.
Yes, Marxist ideology influenced and continues to inspire many of us.
You criticized the election path for long and insisted on changing the system.
Why did you choose the same path? AG: This is part of political process.
The BJP’s agenda of establishing a communal and fascist regime in India is antithetical to the concept of democracy and is leading Assam towards this dangerous position.
The AGP, which was born out of 6 years of long political movement of 1979-85, has long discarded its initial promises.
It is surviving with oxygen supplied by the BJP-led government.
The Congress is in crisis.
It refuses to listen to the needs of Assam and aspirations of her people.
The birth of our party is a result of this crisis.
We are here with a new brand of politics, free from communal hatred and equality for everyone.
However, the journey will be very challenging.
Political answers for many complex questions, which impacts everyone, will come only through democratic negotiations and by taking everyone into confidence.
I must repeat here that Assam has ranked very poorly in the recently released Human Development Index.
When the government is busy in propagating communal politics only, this would be the result.
We want Assam to be on a different trajectory altogether Sivasagar is a historic place and it was named among five iconic places to be developed by the Centre from the tourism perspective.
But what are your priorities for Sivasagar and for entire Assam? Where is the end of the struggle for the striving masses?AG: Sivasagar is at the center of Assam’s historical heritage.
Declaration of Sivasgar as one of the five iconic places of India is surely a good step.
A systematic conservation of the heritage of this township will greatly boost Assam’s economic prospects.
I have already initiated several steps in this direction.
We must ensure radical economic steps to help poor people earn a dignified living and ensure their land rights.
We want radical transformation of Assam in terms of its economic parameters.