Guwahati, Oct 1 (PTI) The Assam Congress on Friday served a show-cause notice on its MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed for his "communally provocative" statements in reference to the recently held Gorukhuti eviction drive "with the intention of damaging the party's image" ahead of the bypolls in the state.

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It said that allegations are rife within the party and even outside that Ahmed is acting as an "agent of the BJP", and that due to his closeness to the chief minister, he is "being sponsored" to make such comments to cause harm to the Congress, especially during elections.

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In the notice issued by the opposition party's Assam unit general secretary Bobbetta Sharma, the Baghbar MLA has been asked to furnish an explanation to its state president in three days for "deliberately acting in a way calculated to lower the prestige of the Congress" .

His comments have led to a major political controversy in the state with a number of organisations filing complaints at multiple police stations across the state.

Ahmed reportedly made the remarks while reacting to assertions by some leaders of the BJP-led ruling alliance that the alleged encroachers in Sipajhar area of Darrang district "had killed" eight people in 1983 during the six-year-long Assam Agitation.

The MLA claimed that the eight people were "not martyrs, but killers", as they were involved in slaughtering others from the minority community of Sipajhar area, where Gorukhuti is located.

Justifying the killings, he reportedly said that "the attack" on the eight people was an act of "self defence" by the Muslim population of that area.

The state Congress, in its notice, said, "As a lawmaker, your communally provocative comments in media, gnawing at old wounds of the past incidents of Assam Agitation when people of Assam across communities had suffered, is totally insensitive and uncalled for.

"APCC views your comments as politically motivated with intent to cause damage to the Congress party just prior to the bye-elections."

The Assam Congress further noted that despite holding a responsible position as an MLA, Ahmed has time and again given statements in media and public forum against party policies and matters with communal overtones having "great propensity to destroy the social harmony" of the state.

Sharma maintained that the legislator had twice earlier made "communally provocative" statements and gone against party discipline.

The notice said that the comments were "not acceptable" to the Congress and it could further give fuel to BJP's "divisive communal agenda" in Assam.

An eviction drive held last month in Darrang passed off peacefully on the first day but was conducted amid stiff resistance by locals on the second, leaving two dead in police firing, including a 12-year-old boy. Over 20 people were injured in the melee, including policemen.

Ahmed's comments have created a political furore in the state with several complaints filed against him across the state.

The ruling alliance's Asom Gana Parishad, born out of the Assam agitation, held protests at various places, including Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Mangaldoi, Dhemaji, Tezpur, Biswanath, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Majuli abd Morigaon, and burnt effigies of the MLA.

"Ahmed has crossed all limits of public accountability just to support the illegal Bangladeshis in the state. His anti-Assam stand exposed the Congress again," AGP General Secretary Manoj Saikia said.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and a few other groups have also filed complaints against the legislator at different police stations, and cases have been registered under various sections of the IPC, a senior official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)