The founder-president of the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students’ Association, Pradip Dutta Roy, said on Sunday that the results of the panchayat polls in Assam have proved that the masses have complete faith in the BJP.

Moreover, it shows that Opposition parties like the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) have lost substantial ground in the political arena of the state, he added.

The panchayat polls, which were apparently being considered by political pundits a “warm-up match” before the Lok Sabha election next year, were held in two phases on December 5 and 9.

Roy told reports here on Sunday that the success of the BJP in the panchayat election has made it clear that the citizens of the state are banking on this party and the effect of other parties, including the Congress, AGP and the AIUDF, has started to perish.

“Both the AIUDF and AGP have had flop shows in the panchayat polls, while the Congress came out second. This clearly vindicates the saffron brigade’s dominance, courtesy the love and support of the masses,” he said.

On the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Roy said, “There is apparently no obstacle in the passage of the bill. It is going to be implemented in the coming days.”

The bill aims to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.

“Passing of the bill is a matter of time,” he said.

On the defunct Cachar Paper Mill, Roy said the names of many top political leaders of Barak Valley would be exposed once the CBI probe, under way to find out the reason behind the closure of the mill, is complete. “Many faces will be unmasked,” he said.

He hoped the pending salaries of the mill’s workers would be paid and the mill would be revived.

Sadhan Purkayastha, general secretary of the Citizens’ Rights Protection Co-Ordination Committee, a conglomerate of 43 Barak Valley-based organisations, alleged that the BJP has been using the citizenship bill to keep its vote bank in the state.

“We strongly want the bill to get implemented but the role of the BJP government has been a bit doubtful over the matter,” he said.

Manobendra Chakraborty, chief convener of the HPC Paper Mills Revival Action Committee, demanded that the CBI probe be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court.