Guwahati: The Assam government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma completed one year of its office on Tuesday (May 10). Union Home Minister Amit Shah also visited the state to participate in several programmes and also launched various projects on the completion of one year of the government.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also took to Twitter to mark its one-year celebration. As a part of the celebration, home minister Amit Shah planted a sapling as a symbol of another new beginning.
“Marking completion of one year of our Govt, we’re blessed to have august presence of Hon Union HM Shri @AmitShah ji amidst us. He planted a sapling today as a symbol of another new beginning & embodiment of our unflinching commitment,” CM Sarma said in a tweet.
🙏 A Year..Many Miles to Go…
Marking completion of one year of our Govt, we’re blessed to have august presence of Hon Union HM Shri @AmitShah ji amidst us. He planted a sapling today as a symbol of another new beginning & embodiment of our unflinching commitment. pic.twitter.com/6q5SuVcREr
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 10, 2022
In this one year of CM Sarma assuming office, there have been many firsts in Assam including the historic peace accords with several militant outfits in the state.
As the key minister and political negotiator, during the first term of the BJP government, Sarma brought all Bodo factions together to enter a historic peace accord with the Centre in January 2020.
The process picked pace further with other ethnic groups to ensure “permanent peace” after he took charge as CM. The latest in line is the Karbi Peace Accord.
However, CM Sarma’s biggest achievement post taking charge is the opening of lines of communication with the Paresh Baruah-led ULFA-Independent which has long avoided the negotiation path.
While the ULFA-Independent is yet to give any assurance on when it may actually start the official negotiations, the outfit’s commander in chief Paresh Baruah has openly lauded CM Sarma’s initiative which he said has raised big hopes.
Not only this, in what is being seen as a reciprocation of the CM’s move the ULFA-Independent for the first time decided not to boycott the Independence Day and Republic day celebrations.
While convincing the ULFA-Independent to give up its demand for sovereignty may not be easy, Sarma’s efforts have definitely set the ball rolling for a solution with unofficial lines of communication open with the outfit.
