Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, alleging for the second time this week that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a follower of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on Friday accused Modi of triggering anarchy in the country, “predicted” that the BJP’s end was near and reiterated his demand for withdrawal of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

“Is this the acche din (good days) the country dreamt of? It’s bure din (bad days). I have been questioned for calling the Prime Minister ‘Hindu Jinnah’ but I repeat that Modi follows Jinnah’s philosophy whereas the Congress follows (Mahatma) Gandhi’s,” Gogoi told reporters here.

On January 5, Gogoi had tweeted that the BJP was trying to rule the country with an ideology akin to Jinnah’s two-nation theory (that religion is the determining factor in defining nationality). He said while Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was an advocate for Muslims, the BJP is for Hindus.

Reacting to Gogoi’s tweet, Union forest and environment minister Prakash Javadekar had tweeted, “The Congress, which has been using the minorities as vote bank for decades, is now trying to divide the country on communal lines. Former Assam CM and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi’s ‘Hindu Jinnah’ comment is yet another blatant attempt of Congress to create communal divide.”

Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday said that Hindus are secular as every Hindu person believes in Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava (all religions are equal) and Hindus can’t be Jinnah as these are two opposite words.

Criticising the BJP-led government of creating a fiasco in the country, Gogoi said, “This government is trying to dominate anyone who raises a voice against them. We have seen how students in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and in other parts of the country were treated mercilessly. Now, police have registered cases against those who were beaten up in JNU by goons. Is this a joke?”

He accused the BJP of bringing the entire country on the streets and leaving the people in pain and anguish. “Instead of taking steps to address the people’s demand, the government is engaging in a show-of-strength competition by organising peace rallies. These rallies are only an admission that because of their ruling, peace in the state is hit,” he added.

Gogoi said the people of Assam would give a fitting reply to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the 2021 Assembly polls.

“The people of Assam had trusted Sonowal but he has become a puppet to Delhi and, in his greed for power, he has backstabbed the people of the state. The downfall of this government has started. If Sonowal wants to survive, he must take steps to withdraw CAA and protect the constitutional safety of the indigenous people of the state,” he said.

Gogoi also sniffed a conspiracy behind the move of the state government to downgrade his security cover from Z-plus to Z. He said this could be because of his constant opposition to the amended citizenship law.

The former chief minister welcomed the idea of floating a new political front and said though it might impact the Congress’ vote bank, he would still support the idea in the interest of the state to uproot the BJP from power.