The Lok Sabha elections this time is a fight to save the Constitution and democracy along with ensuring the future of youth and women’s security, Congress candidate for the Guwahati constituency Mira Borthakur Goswami said here.

Goswami said the Constitution has given “us the right to raise our voice against injustice but there is an attempt to silence people by bringing about a change in it”.

People will, however, vote “against this move in this election and will exercise their franchise in favour of the INDIA group”, she asserted.

The Congress leader said that the BJP government had brought in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to settle Hindu Bengalis from neighbouring Bangladesh.

“This is a dangerous proposition. Landless people of Assam displaced by flood and erosion have been demanding land and documents but they are yet to be rehabilitated,” she said.

According to Goswami, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said he had talked with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about settling five lakh Chakmas from Arunachal Pradesh in Assam. Sarma, however, recently claimed that he does not know what Rijiju said but the Centre has not discussed the issue of relocating Chakma or Hajong refugees in Assam with him.

A leader who joined the Congress from the BJP following the CAA protests in the state in December 2019, Goswami said she is happy to have joined the grand old party and is grateful to party leaders for the respect and responsibilities given to her.

“I left the BJP during the CAA protests. Our constitution and democracy are in crisis, corruption is high and electoral bonds are an example of the height of corruption. In such a situation those who have left the Congress are extremely greedy people but I am not so,” she said.

She claimed as a Congress member she is working for the people and is confident of winning the elections, following which “I will try my best to solve the problems of Guwahati and also raise the issues of the state in Parliament”.

Goswami, who is also the president of the Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress, alleged the ruling BJP is using women as a vote bank. “The BJP government has instilled fear in women that if they do not vote for BJP or attend election meetings, their names will be deleted from schemes,” she alleged.

Women, on one hand, are running after the Rs 1,250 being doled out under the Orunodoi scheme while on the other they are facing the impact of price rise and finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet, Goswami claimed.

“They are aware the amount they are receiving under Orunodoi is not enough but still they are running after it since prices of all essential commodities have gone up,” she added. “I am committed to helping women participate in the decision-making process.”