The Congress on Thursday said if the party wins the elections in Assam in 2021, it would not allow the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the state.

Harish Rawat, former chief minister of Uttarakhand, AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam, said this while attending a sit-in demonstration against the act outside Nehru Park here.

“The Centre has brought such a contentious and divisive law to propagate their political agenda and manifesto that all the people of Assam, the entire Northeast and the rest of India are hitting the streets protesting against it. The student community of IIT, IIM, central and state universities are protesting against the law as it attacks the soul of the Constitution. Assamese people are showing their anger against the amended citizenship act as it is a violation of their identity, culture and the Assam Accord,” Rawat said. “The people of Assam are opposing the act since its introduction in Parliament and we are with them. If we come to power in the state in the 2021 Assembly elections, our government will not allow the act to be implemented in Assam, in case it is not scrapped.”

The Congress staged demonstrations in all blocks, mandals and districts across the state in protest against the bill. Around 200 people attended the sit-in demonstrations, which were attended by Assam PCC president and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora, Lok Sabha MPs Gaurav Gogoi Pradyut Bordoloi and many other senior leaders.

After the protest, the Congress leaders also met Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi at 3.30pm and sought a judicial inquiry into the violence that resulted in five deaths.

“The law is nullifying the historic Assam Accord, which is the soul of every Assamese and was a result of 860 martyrs of Assam. That’s why we are protesting it. The BJP should first study history and then speak,” Bora said.

The Congress had opposed the citizenship bill since it was first introduced in Parliament in 2016, he said, adding: “We opposed it both inside Parliament as well as outside of it. But we have always protested peacefully and in a democratic manner. The government is afraid of youths and that’s why they banned mobile Internet services. They have destroyed democracy and are turning the state into another Kashmir,” Bora said.

On December 22, the Congress will take out a padayatra across the state. It will carry out a mass signature campaign and have targeted to send at least 20 lakh signatures to the President by demanding repeal of this unconstitutional act, Bora said.

Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia also staged a hungerstrike in Delhi. “Today, I join the seven-hour hunger protest by my colleague and MLA from Mariani constituency #RupjyotiKurmi against the unconstitutional and anti #AssamAccord #CitizenshipAmendmentAct2019 (CAA) at New Delhi. @INCIndia @harishrawatcmuk @ahmedpatel @kcvenugopalmp @RahulGandhi @iPranavG,” he tweeted.

MP Gaurav Gogoi demanded that Sonowal resign for his alleged failure to control law and order in the state and failure to honour the commitment made to the Assamese people.

In Hailakandi, police dispersed more than 100 workers Congress workers on Thursday when they were staging a protest. District Congress committee president Joynal Uddin Laskar said they were protesting peacefully and after half an hour police came and dispersed the workers.

In Silchar, several CPM workers staged a protest near the statue of Khudiram Bose.

Congress leader Siddique Ahmed appealed to all the people and political parties to come under a common platform to protest against the law.

Additional reporting by Satananda Bhattacharjee in Hailakandi