Overview
- Addressing the BJP’s state executive meeting in Guwahati, Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted that people of Bangladeshi origin now account for roughly 40% of Assam’s population and said they could soon determine outcomes in most constituencies.
- He warned that if their share crossed 50%, there could be attempts to “make Assam a part of Bangladesh,” framing the 2026 assembly race as a civilisational battle to protect culture and land.
- Sarma grounded his estimate in Census 2011, which put Muslims at 34% statewide; he excluded about 3% indigenous Muslims and projected a roughly four-point increase per census cycle to reach near 40% by the 2027 count.
- He linked the issue to security by invoking the Siliguri Corridor, citing the lynching of Dipu Das in Bangladesh, and questioning the wartime loyalties of Bengali-origin Muslims he described as settlers.
- He highlighted government actions by claiming over 1.45 lakh bighas of alleged encroachment had been cleared through evictions, while acknowledging there is no 2021 census release to verify current demographic shares.