Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia on Tuesday raised sharp questions over Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent statements on corruption in Assam, asking why strong action was not taken if large-scale scams had indeed taken place before 2021.
Addressing the media in Guwahati, Saikia referred to the Chief Minister’s claim that corruption worth around Rs 15,000 crore existed in the state earlier and that a “syndicate” had been broken. He also cited allegations of a “job for cash” scam, where candidates were allegedly asked to pay Rs 10–15 lakh for appointment letters.
Saikia questioned how such scams could have continued when Himanta Biswa Sarma himself was a minister since 2002. “If all this was happening, how did it go on for so many years when he was part of the government?” he asked. He also recalled that the Modi government had once said corrupt leaders would be sent to jail, but alleged that no such action was seen. 
Pointing out that the BJP has been in power in Assam since 2016, Saikia asked what concrete steps the Chief Minister had taken so far on these serious allegations. He said the vigilance department arrests people even for taking small bribes of Rs 500, but questioned why no major arrests have happened in cases where lakhs were allegedly taken for jobs.
The Congress leader also raised the Panchayat department scam, the Assam Police SI recruitment scam of September 2022 where 597 appointments were cancelled, and alleged links to people close to the BJP in Bongaigaon. He said investigations still appear incomplete, including questions around the private company that conducted the exam.
Drawing a parallel with the Zubeen Garg case, Saikia claimed that several people are yet to be questioned. He demanded that the Chief Minister come forward and clearly explain all these issues to the people of Assam.
