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What’s in BJP’s Assam manifesto? UCC to ‘jihad’ to more ‘pushbacks’

Ruling party also vows to hike amounts granted under existing welfare schemes, increase the coverage of DBT scheme for women to another 15 lakh households.

BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma. (PTI Photo)Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (PTI Photo)
Written by: Sukrita Baruah
4 min readGuwahatiApr 1, 2026 04:14 AM IST First published on: Mar 31, 2026 at 04:42 PM IST

The implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in Assam, laws against “land jihad” and “love jihad”, more evictions, more “pushbacks” of declared foreigners, and a ramp-up of existing welfare schemes, including increasing the amount transferred under the government’s monthly financial assistance scheme for women from Rs 1,250 to Rs 3,000. These are among the BJP’s key poll promises for the April 9 Assembly elections. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the party’s manifesto in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Announcing the key points in the manifesto, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the party promises to use the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 — a long defunct law that the government revived last year to “pushback” people declared foreigners by the state’s Foreigners Tribunal into Bangladesh by bypassing diplomatic processes — “everyday to send back Bangladeshis from Assam”. He also said the party promises to continue its mass eviction campaigns, in which mostly Bengali-origin Muslim families have been affected, declaring “we will free every inch of land is with Bangladeshi illegal immigrants”.

Sukrita Baruah is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Expres... Read More

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