‘Gogoi Wants The Credit, So We’ll Delay Aid’: Himanta Admits Assam Flood Relief Delay, Raising Questions Over Politics

Assam’s flood relief has become the centre of a bitter political fight, but Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s own explanation for delaying financial assistance has raised a more troubling question: were flood-hit families made to wait because the government did not want Akhil Gogoi to get the credit?

Sarma on Sunday said the disbursement of assistance to flood-affected people in the eastern districts was being delayed so that Gogoi could not claim credit for its release. The chief minister said Gogoi had spoken to him about the compensation around seven days earlier and that he had explained the government’s plans to him.

“We have to delay the disbursement so that he cannot claim the credit,”* Sarma said. He added, *“My mistake was sharing with him details about the compensation. He is indulging in politics over the matter, and so will I.”

The remarks have shifted attention from the political rivalry to the people waiting for relief. While the chief minister and the opposition MLA trade accusations over who should get credit, flood-affected families are the ones waiting for assistance. For people struggling to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, the political battle over credit offers little immediate relief.

Gogoi, president of the Raijor Dal, has been staging an indefinite satyagraha at the Assam Assembly since October 2, saying he was compelled to protest after affected families remained without adequate monetary assistance even after 75 days of the floods.

Gogoi said only some families had received the Rs 15,000 ex gratia and described the disaster as catastrophic rather than a routine annual flood. He accused the government of politicising the issue and said he was protesting to remind it of people who had lost everything.

He has demanded at least Rs 10 lakh compensation for every affected family in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat. He has also sought Rs 15,000 in one-time interim assistance, an additional Rs 10,000 for people in Sivasagar and Charaideo, and a CBI inquiry into the circumstances behind this year’s unprecedented floods.

Sarma, meanwhile, accused Gogoi of seeking political mileage and said 55,000 families had been identified for assistance.

At least 108 people have died in Assam’s floods this year, while homes, schools, roads, embankments, cattle sheds, fisheries and health centres have suffered damage.

The political fight may determine who claims credit when the money reaches people, but the larger concern is whether relief should ever be delayed to settle a battle over credit. For families waiting after a devastating disaster, the priority is simple: get the promised assistance to them without political delay.