Govt to become Rs 10 lakh crore economy by 2028: Assam CM
THE SHILLONG TIMES / 2026-05-27, 4, Shillong
(PTI)
GUWAHATI, May 26: Asserting that the assembly election results were an affirmation of the BJP-led NDA’s commitment to peace and prosperity in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said his government will work to make the state a Rs 10 lakh crore economy by 2028.
He said the NDA’s acceptance among the people has increased over the last five years and the minority community was also gradu-ally leaning towards it, which would “spell more trouble for the Congress”.
Speaking during a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address in the assembly, Sarma said tabling the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill proved his government’s commitment to working for the rights of women belonging to the minority community.
He mentioned of the Op-position’s boycott of the gov-ernor’s speech in the assem-bly and urged for a discussion on not resorting to such steps, citing the example of Parlia-ment where the President’s address is attended by the opposition parties.
Noting that the state’s GSDP has grown from Rs 4 lakh crore in 2021-22 to Rs
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during the 4th day of the first session of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly, in Guwahati, on Tuesday. (UB)
8 lakh crore in the last five years, he said the target was to make it a Rs 10 lakh crore economy by 2028.
Stating that a strong mid-dle-class is getting formed in the state, he said that the percentage of people living below poverty line (BPL) will be brought down to 2-3 per cent in the next five years from current 17 per cent.
“When poverty decreases, social indicators improve. The improvement in Mater-nal Mortality Rate (MMR) is one such indicator for us,” the CM said.
From MMR of 480 per 1 lakh live births in 2006, it has come down to 84 per 1 lakh live births and Assam’s figure is now below the all-India figure, he added.
He affirmed that the gov-ernment would continue working for development and protecting the identity of the indigenous people by stopping Bangladeshi influx and safeguarding tribal land, among others.
On the election results, he said, “The NDA’s tally not just reached 102, but the number of votes polled by our candidates also increased by 15 lakh this time.
The BJP candidates se-cured over 81.92 lakh votes, AGP got 14 lakh, and BPF got 8 lakh, with the NDA crossing the 1 crore votes mark in total.”
“The NDA swept all Scheduled Tribe reserved seats and tea tribes-domi-nated ones, while winning all but one seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes,” he added.
He said that even in a couple of minority-domi-nated seats, AGP and BPF candidates secured over 1 lakh votes each, an indication of the community leaning towards the NDA.
Sarma said Assam kept intact its record of peace af-ter elections, and even West Bengal, from where people used to take refuge in Assam to escape post-poll violence during Trinamool Congress rule, did not witness such a situation.
The CM said he kept his promise by tabling the UCC Bill in the first assembly session.
“Tabling the UCC Bill proves our government’s commitment to work for the rights of women belonging to the minority community. I hope the Opposition will support it,” he said.
Sarma also lauded the decision of several Eidgah committees to refrain from cow sacrifice during Bakri Eid, and hoped more commit-tees would follow suit.
He said that when his previous government had brought in the Cattle Pres-ervation Act in 2021, many had interpreted it as an at-tempt to hamper religious sentiments.
From there, Assam has reached a state where Mus-lims are themselves refrain-ing from cow slaughter re-specting Hindu sentiments and this will strengthen com-munal harmony, Sarma said.
Referring to the issue of price rise raised by several MLAs during the discussion, the CM said the government was seized of the matter, and measures were being taken to check it.
More austerity measures will be included in the state Budget, likely to be presented in July, Sarma added.
In an apparent reference to state Congress president and MP Gaurav Gogoi’s de-feat in the elections, Sarma said, “A politician should not become proud. Pride leads a person to lose a small as-sembly segment under the Lok Sabha constituency he had won just two years ago.”