Opposition parties on Sunday criticised the BJP over a video posted by its Assam unit on social media, claiming it showed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “targeting minorities at point-blank range”, and demanded action in the matter.
The video, which has since been deleted, purportedly showed Sarma aiming a rifle and firing at two men—one wearing a skull cap and the other with a beard. Titled “Point-Blank Shot”, the video carried captions such as “no mercy” and “foreigner-free Assam”.
The controversy has triggered a political row ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, amid ongoing tensions over alleged targeting of Bengali-origin Muslims.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose demanded immediate action against those responsible for the video. “Shameful. Whoever has made this ad needs to be immediately arrested. You need to act,” she wrote on X, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate accused the BJP of spreading hatred and questioned whether the legal system was taking note of the matter. She said deleting the video was not enough and held the Prime Minister responsible for what she described as “venom, hatred and violence”.
Congress MP and party general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal termed the video a “call to genocide” and said the judiciary must take action. He alleged that the content reflected “poison spread from the very top” and said there was little hope of action from the central leadership.
Congress leader Shama Mohamed also criticised the BJP, calling the video an attack on the Constitution and questioning the Supreme Court’s silence on the issue.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi condemned the video as “hate-driven” and said it was widely downloaded as well as circulated before being deleted. She also alleged that the Election Commission would ignore the matter.
The BJP has not issued a detailed response to the Opposition’s allegations.
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