Frequent police encounters, boundary disputes mark Assam's 2021 as Himanta takes charge

Guwahati, Dec 26: A government change marked 2021 in Assam as BJP's Northeast strongman Himanta Biswa Sarma took over as the chief minister, earning both bouquets and brickbats from varied quarters over his style of governance that drew accusations of "heavy-handed" tackling of the security situation.

Sarma assumed power after leading the BJP, together with Sarbananda Sonowal, the incumbent chief minister, in the March-April assembly elections, decimating the 10-party opposition alliance comprising the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF.

Though the BJP did not project a chief ministerial face, Sarma was rewarded for his organisational skills as he helped the party secure a second consecutive term in office, besides expanding its base in the Northeast.

Sonowal, who helmed the state since 2016, was accommodated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet as Minister of Shipping and Ayush after being elected uncontested to the Rajya Sabha.

As Sarma realised his long-cherished goal of becoming the state's chief minister, he gave a "free-hand" to the police, leading to regular encounters.

His government also extended the olive branch to banned militant groups such as ULFA, while border disputes with neighbouring states marred his first few months in office.

He also steered the state through the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the upgradation of health infrastructure and swift rollout of the vaccination drive.

Sarma's "free-hand" to law enforcers led to over 80 police shootings that resulted in the killing of 32 people named in various criminal cases and injury to at least 57 others.

The opposition alleged police had turned "trigger happy" under Sarma, but the chief minister was unfazed and asserted the authorities had "full operational liberty to fight against criminals within the ambit of law".

He also ordered a clampdown on drug trafficking, a menace in the Northeast, leading to seizure of narcotics worth crores of rupees that were publicly burnt by the government.

Sarma's government was also accused of targeting Muslims - from crackdown on "encroachers" belonging to the community, to asking them to adopt family planning for population control, besides bringing in a stringent cattle protection law.

Two people were killed during an eviction drive in Darrang district in September as clashes broke out between police and alleged encroachers. At least 20 more were injured. A video showing a photographer stomping on an injured protester in the throes of death went viral, sparking outrage.

On the first day in office, Sarma gave a call to the banned ULFA for talks and the outfit's chief Paresh Barua reciprocated by extending the unilateral ceasefire thrice.

More than a thousand militants operating in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and the three hill districts of Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong surrendered with their arms.

Sarma, the convenor of the BJP-led North-East Democratic Alliance and the party's chief troubleshooter in the region, faced his first major challenge as violence broke out at the Assam-Mizoram border, with six police personnel and a civilian getting killed in Cachar district in July.

Flare-ups continued at the inter-state border even as the government formed a committee to resolve the issue. The Assam government also took steps to resolve pending boundary disputes with Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The chief minister described the boundary disputes as the "biggest stumbling block" for the development of the region.

The state continued to battle the pandemic in 2021, with 5,118 people dying of COVID-19 so far this year as against 1,037 in the previous year. The total number of cases rose to 6,20,081 till date this year from last year's 2,15,939.

So far, 3,67,14,946 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered - 2,16,88,360 first dose and 1,50,26,586 second dose.

Amid the raging pandemic, the BJP secured 60 seats in the assembly polls, while its partner AGP bagged nine and the UPPL six.

The opposition 'Mahajot', which fell apart after the election, could manage 50 seats in the 126-member assembly. Firebrand leader-activist Akhil Gogoi, who fought as an Independent also won, becoming the first politician in the state to win an election from jail.

Sarma's sustained efforts to expand the ruling benches also bore fruit with Congress MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi of Mariani and Sushanta Borgohain of Thowra, and AIUDF's Phani Talukdar of Bhabanipur switching over to the BJP and winning in bypolls.

Congress MLA Sashi Das of Raha announced that he would support the BJP while remaining in his party.

Sarma also faced attacks by the opposition, which accused a real estate company co-founded by his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma and BJP Kisan Morcha leader Ranjit Bhattacharya of illegally acquiring a government land.

During the year, Assam celebrated boxer Lovlina Borgohain who became the first sportsperson from the state to win an Olympics medal. She won a bronze at the Tokyo games.