Don’t vote for BJP: Tai Ahom body

Dibrugarh: The influential Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad (TAYP) on Sunday asked Ahom community voters not to vote for the BJP in the assembly polls.
The plea was made in protest against the controversial comment allegedly made by Pradan Baruah, the BJP candidate from Dhemaji district against the Ahom community. Baruah, a three-time legislator from Jonai who recently joined the saffron camp from the Congress, has reportedly said that the BJP doesn’t need Ahom votes to win the election.
The Tai Ahom body has been at loggerheads with BJP since a telephonic conversation between BJP MP Rameshwar Teli and a saffron party worker, giving away Teli’s preference for an adivasi candidate over one from the Ahom community for the Duliajan assembly seat, went viral. It triggered widespread condemnation and protests against Teli by various Ahom organizations in several parts of upper Assam.
On Sunday, hundreds of TAYP activists staged a demonstration in front of the Dibrugarh residence of BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal. Shouting slogans against Baruah and Sonowal, the protestors burnt their effigies. TAYP Dibrugarh unit president Deepjyoti Dowerah said, “Ahoms are one of the largest ethnic communities of Assam with over 50 lakh voters. BJP has been trying to alienate the community. It is unfortunate that this is happening right under the nose of Sarbananda Sonowal, who belongs to a tribal ethnic community himself.”