Assam: How an Autonomous District Council Election Has Turned Into a Battlefield

Dima Hasao is a hill district in Assam situated in the southern-middle part of the state and is known for its scenic beauty, which has turned it into a much-coveted tourist destination. The district is also crucial from a natural resources point of view, especially the trading of coal, sand and other resources.

In this backdrop, the energy and effort the ruling party (Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP) in Assam is putting into a district council election and, importantly, in an election that is not much discussed in the mainstream media and society, is massive.

A young professional, on the condition of anonymity, told NewsClick, “On December 16, I had confirmed tickets for Haflong from Guwahati. But at midnight, I had to cancel the tickets as I failed to get reasonable accommodation even after calling several hotels in Haflong. The reason, as I was told by the hotel employees, was that all the places were filled up with MLAs and workers of BJP for the district council election in Dima Hasao.” He was supposed to go to Haflong for some official work, and the district council election is not even a hot topic of discussion in Assam’s media, which usually is in the case of such district council elections. 

Dima Hasao comes under the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) having partial legislative and executive jurisdiction over the district. The council comprises 28 elected members (members of the autonomous council or the MACs) from the same number of constituencies (autonomous council constituencies). The council elects one CEM (Chief Executive Member from among those 28 elected MACs) for a tenure of five years. The council is under the provisions enshrined in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. 

Elections for NCHAC are scheduled for early next year, January 8. Meanwhile, the district seems to witness an unprecedented political upheaval, with withdrawal of candidates from the fray and six constituencies witnessing the ‘victory’ of BJP candidates uncontested. The Indian National Congress (INC) has alleged huge discrepancies in the electoral process and threats to their candidates to withdraw from the race. 

To get an insight into the NCHAC election this year, NewsClick spoke to some people engaged in this year’s election, including Opposition party members and independent candidates.

Danial Langthasa was elected to NCHAC from the Haflong-1 constituency last time, and has proposed his candidature this time as well from the same constituency as an independent candidate. When he won last time, he contested as an INC candidate but resigned from the party last year. 

Speaking to NewsClick over the phone, Langthasa said that the influence of the ruling party and the state government has increased manifold, and “one of the aspects was observed in the distribution of tickets among candidates.”

“We saw a virtual fight for who will get the BJP ticket, which is unprecedented. Barring a few, in almost every constituency, groups of people rallied behind their leaders in a show of strength in order to get a ticket from the ruling party. This started in November,” he said.

But, according to him, ticket distribution by BJP was done quite unexpectedly. “Many seating MACs were not given a chance again. Also, many popular local leaders were denied candidature and prominent faces removed,” he said. Citing examples, he continued, “Niranjan Hojai is given candidature from a different constituency than the one of his choice.”

Notably, Niranjan Hojai, Jewel Gorlosa and Mohet Hojai, the militant turned politicians, were acquitted by Gauhati High Court in an over Rs 1,000 crore scam. They were convicted by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on the charge of diverting money meant for the council to procure arms and weapons for militant organisations. Mohet Hojai is a former chief executive member (CEM) of NCHAC, the highest position on the council. Both Niranjan Hojai and Mohet Hojai are now BJP members, with Mohet Hojai joining the ruling party recently and will be contesting from the Maibang West constituency. 

Langthasa also said that the cabinet minister of the Assam government, Nandita Gorlosa, is also contesting from two constituencies and that they are also different from the constituencies of her preference.

“Those local BJP leaders who are popular in their constituencies and hoping for candidature but were denied filed nominations independently. But on the day of withdrawal, we saw the majority of them withdrawing. This raises several questions,” Langthasa said. 

Congress Alleges Forceful Withdrawal of Candidates, Unnatural Growth of Voters 

On the other hand, INC alleged that six of their candidates had been untraceable on the day of scrutiny and withdrawal, December 22. 

Congress district president and former CEM of NCHAC Samarjit Haflongbar told NewsClick, “The entire process appeared chaotic this time. The last date for filing nomination was December 21, and the next day was scheduled for scrutiny and withdrawal. But, strangely enough, there was no time mentioned for withdrawal. On 22nd night, we found six of our candidates untraceable, and they also withdrew at the last moment. One Maibang (area) candidate was recorded to have withdrawn at past 10 p.m. I was with that candidate till 9.45 p.m. How can he come from Maibang to Haflong in 15 minutes, which is 50 kilometres away?” It takes over an hour to travel from Maibang to  Haflong, and the withdrawals are to be filed at Haflong as it is the district headquarters.”

As of now, six of the constituencies where Congress candidates withdrew have BJP candidates ‘winning’ uncontested. This includes Mohet Hojai as well, Haflongbar said.  

He also said that Congress has observed an “unnatural growth” of voters in a few constituencies. “We saw a steep 16% increase in voter numbers (in one constituency), with 19,462 new voters. Notably, there was just about a 1% increase of voters last election time in the same constituency with 1123 new voters. This is a natural growth in terms of voter numbers, and 16% is not natural. We fear manipulation and plan to approach the court right after the election,” he said.

He further said, “The usual process of inclusion of new voters in Dima Hasao is tight, where any new applicant would be scrutinised in the presence of an executive magistrate, land revenue officials, the village head and political party representative. This time, it has been upended, and nobody knows who applied and who verified. We heard the BLO (Block Level Officers) did the task. If it is true, the entire process is questionable, so we have decided to approach the court.” 

Apart from the alleged discrepancies, Samarjit Haflongbar also highlighted the use of exorbitant money power by the BJP. Alleging massive corruption by Debolal Gorlosa, the CEM from BJP, Haflonbar, said, “Some Rs 800 crore were granted as compensations for those who lost properties in the Mahur-Temenglong road construction and out of this money 300 crores were siphoned off by Debolal Gorlosa. Only 500 crores were distributed among the beneficiaries.” 

Airing similar views, Apurba Bhattacharjee, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and Dima Hasao Congress in-charge, said, “The entire exercise of withdrawal and scrutiny is not at all up to the mark. We felt that the retiring officer acted like a BJP worker.” 

“The withdrawal by Congress candidates is not intentioned, they are forced. Many candidates of our party went untraceable with the party leaders, and their families also have no clues of their whereabouts, but they withdrew. Is this natural? We fear not,” Bhattacharjee said.  

“The unruly administration had been like a monarchy during the tenure of Debolal Gorlosa. We fight to restore democracy and fight the unimaginable corruption in the Hill District. The hill district is resource-rich, and via Gorlosa, many BJP leaders benefit from money,” Bhattacharjee alleged.

The hill district is going to vote for a new autonomous council on January 8, with the provisions enshrined in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution with all the allegations from the Opposition and the strong election campaigns and management by the ruling BJP.