Priyanka Gandhi releases ‘charge sheet’ against Assam government

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday (February 19, 2026) released a “people’s charge sheet” against the “corrupt” Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in poll-bound Assam, accusing it of institutionalising “syndicate raj” and giving the lands of the indigenous people away to corporate houses.

The 20-page document incorporated the angst of the people from across Assam, the State Congress leaders said. It was released at a hall in Guwahati named after Manabendra Sarma, a Congress leader murdered in the 1990s.

The charge sheet accused the BJP of establishing a parallel economy by patronising and promoting illegal activities, including rat-hole coal mining, and turning Assam into a conduit for drugs, Burmese areca nuts, and other contraband items from across the international borders.

It claimed that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Ministers close to him, and members of his family accumulated illegal wealth, generating “slush funds through an organised syndicate system” and investing the proceeds in real estate, shell companies, and other ventures.

The document touched upon Assam’s “rising debts, irresponsible governance, and financial mismanagement”. It said that the State’s outstanding debt crossed ₹2 lakh crore, increasing the financial burden on people and future generations.

“The government is taking loans not for reforms or productive investments, but to fund various freebies aimed at electoral winnability… The money of the people of Assam, which should have been used to build infrastructure and provide water, roads, and basic amenities, is instead being diverted and used primarily for political purposes,” the document read.

‘Stalled NRC’

Congress also accused the BJP government of sabotaging the “universally accepted Assam Accord of 1985” and the “deliberate non-implementation of Clause 6 that guarantees the protection of Assamese Identity” despite repeated assurances.

The charge sheet alleged that the BJP undermined the sanctity of the Assam Accord by introducing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025. It stated that the BJP stalled the exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and blackmailed communities by promoting a fear psychosis through official channels.

Criticising the BJP for failing to declare the perennial problems of floods and riverbank erosion in Assam as a national disaster, the document highlighted the State government’s inability to create adequate jobs and grant Scheduled Tribe status to six communities — Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, Tai Ahom, and Tea Tribes.

The document also said the BJP had weakened and stifled public education, leaving children of the poor in the lurch. It pointed to the merger or closure of more than 9,000 State-run schools without taking the people into confidence.