File image of Assam CM Sarma on the eighth and last day from the first phase of Jana Aashirwad Yatra (Photo: @himantabiswa/X)
Guwahati, May 26: Riding high on a decisive electoral mandate, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Tuesday, turned the Assembly into an arena of political reckoning.
Launching a pointed broadside against the Opposition for what he described as a cynical campaign built on personal attacks, Sarma, while replying to the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, alleged that a section of the Opposition had staked its entire electoral strategy on targeting his family.
"For the last five years, one political party believed that by attacking the Chief Minister's family they would win elections. Fake passports from three different countries were circulated before the public to malign my family. But the people of Assam wanted development, not politics based on personal attacks, and therefore they rejected such campaigns," he said.
The Chief Minister went further, recounting what he described as an organised disinformation operation.
Without naming the MLA in question, he said police had recovered two truckloads of leaflets containing material targeting his family from outside the residence of a specific Opposition legislator during the election period.
When confronted, Sarma said, the MLA distanced himself from the material, claiming someone else had prepared it. "Their entire politics revolved around attacking families rather than discussing Assam's future," he remarked.
The BJP-led NDA alliance's performance at the polls, Sarma argued, was the clearest possible verdict on that approach, a result he described as proof that voters had firmly chosen governance and development over negativity and personal vitriol.
In one of the more emotionally charged passages of his speech, Sarma took aim at what he called opportunistic attempts to appropriate the legacy of the late cultural icon Zubeen Garg for political mileage.
Without directly naming any party, the Chief Minister alleged that leaders who had long ignored the beloved Assamese singer, and had routinely preferred artistes from outside the state, suddenly became vocal admirers after his passing.
"Zubeen's song 'Mayabini' emotionally connected with the people of Assam. But after his death, some people suddenly started politicising his name. Those who never invited him to their programmes earlier became overnight admirers of Zubeen Garg," Sarma said.
He drew a quiet but unmistakable contrast, asserting that his own bond with the singer had been genuine and longstanding.
"People of Assam understand who genuinely stood beside Zubeen and who tried to use his legacy for political benefit after his death. I always shared a close relationship with him," he added.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Sarma's address was the candour he directed at his own party. Despite the NDA's commanding performance, the Chief Minister urged BJP legislators to resist any creeping sense of entitlement or invincibility.
"Winning today does not guarantee victory tomorrow. Politics changes very quickly. There are examples where leaders won comfortably in parliamentary elections but lost soon after because people sensed arrogance and pride in them," he cautioned.
Framing humility as a political necessity rather than a mere virtue, Sarma warned that the moment arrogance takes hold, decline becomes inevitable.
"We must learn from history and from recent elections. No leader or party should assume that victory is permanent. The moment arrogance enters politics, downfall begins," he said.