Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma gave a mixed reaction to the Supreme Court's decision on the cutoff date of the Assam Accord, saying that the people of Assam will have to move forward by struggling. He does not know whether this decision is historic or not, but the government had made this agreement so that its cutoff date remains 1971.

However, many people in Assam wanted the cutoff date to be 1951. It is noteworthy that last Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act and granted Indian citizenship to immigrants who came to Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971. A five-judge constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal intruders.

Mixed reactions to court's decision 

Himanta said that according to him this decision sets the cutoff date as 1971 and hence his reaction is mixed, he is both sad and happy with it. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed confidence that the ruling NDA will win back all four seats in the Assam by-elections next month. He also said that he will work hard to win the fifth seat from the opposition.

By-elections will be held on these seats

By-elections Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri assembly seats fell vacant after the MLAs won the Lok Sabha elections. Himanta, co-in-charge of Jharkhand assembly elections, told reporters after a program that the next government in Jharkhand will be of NDA. He expressed hope that BJP will form the government in Jharkhand. He congratulated all the candidates and said that the public will decide this. Chief Minister Himanta, while launching the third phase of Mission Basundhara Scheme in a program, said that under this program, land rights are being given to the indigenous people of the state.

Zero tolerance towards encroachment: Himanta

On the issue of encroachment, Himanta Sarma said in a post, 'In response to our zero tolerance policy towards encroachment, especially in tea garden areas, we have banned the construction of new houses by unauthorized persons and encroachers in cities like Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. But this order has nothing to do with tea garden workers. Let me make it clear that this order applies only to encroachers and not to members of our tea garden community who are building their houses and living in rows.'