Has citizenship bill polarised voters?

SILCHAR: In Mohankal village, Sudhanshu Das, a paddy farmer said he voted for Narendra Modi. The family had faced some difficult days when his uncle, Kumud Chandra Das, 68, had to spend a year in detention after he was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in March 2018. The uncle challenged the order in the High Court, which granted him bail. Earlier this year, the tribunal declared him a foreigner of the 1966 to 1971 stream, which means that he will be eligible for citizenship in 10 years — when he will be 78 years.

Das thinks the Congress is responsible for this, and Modi will solve it. “In his rallies here [Modi], he promised that, we Bengalis do not need to worry and he will bring the Bill. There is rasta [road], current [electricity], and he has given houses to the poor,” Das said.

For Das, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is one of the main reasons for voting for the BJP. In Silchar, the bill — a poll promise of the BJP — has found support among the Bengalispeaking Hindus. The bill offers citizenship to Hindus, Sikh and Buddhist immigrants from neighbouring countries, and excludes Muslim immigrants. Most migrants in the Barak Valley in the district are Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. According to locals, they form the majority of the over 200,000 names excluded from the National Register of Citizens

(NRC) in

Cachar district.

The NRC in turn, aims to revisit the list Indian citizens of Assam, made following the 1951 Census and up to the midnight of 24 March 1971 (the date before Bangladesh was formed), to reportedly catch illegal migration. A draft list released in July 2018 left out over 4 million people out of a total pool of applicants numbering 32.9 million.

Political experts say that the NRC and the CAB may have resulted in a polarisation of the Hindu votes, something that will only be borne out on May 23, when the results are announced.

The constituency, one of the 14 in the state, voted on April 18 in the second phase of the general elections. Among the 17 candidates in the fray in Silchar, the main fight was between the BJP’S Rajdeep Roy, a doctor, and the Congress’ Sushmita Dev, the sitting member of Parliament, who had won in 2014 bucking the Modi wave. Her father, Santosh Mohan Dev, who had passed away a few months before the 2014 polls, was elected five times from the constituency.

Imaduddin Bulbul, a local lawyer said he voted for the Congress, as it stands for, “a secular India in its actions and its deeds”.

“The polarisation has increased since Modi became the prime minister. We do not appreciate the vocabulary the BJP uses,” he said. Muslims constitute 35-37% of the population; the rest comprise Bengali-speaking Hindus, Tea Tribes and other tribal groups.

“Silchar definitely voted communally,” Joydeep Biswas, an economics professor at Cachar College and a political commentator, said. The BJP has won Silchar only thrice.

“Where earlier, the Hindu votes would be divided between the Congress and BJP, this time around, the Hindu votes seem to have been consolidated in favour of the BJP. And one of the big reasons for this is the Congress’ stand towards the Citizenship Amendment Bill.”

The BJP’S dogged determination to push the bill through without discussion during the winter session of the parliament, sparked Congress protests against the lack of discussion over the bill.

However, in Silchar, the dominance of Bengali-speaking Hindus has meant that the bill has largely found support.