Major demographic changes happening in Dhubri: BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi

NEW DELHI: A major "demographic change" has taken place in Assam's Dubhri, the seat Congress won with the largest margin, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said on Friday, a day after he termed the district "mini-Bangladesh" and sparked a controversy. Trivedi had made the remark Wednesday while participating in a debate on Home Ministry.
Resuming his speech on Friday, the BJP leader said he was asked by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to correct the "figures."
"The biggest victory in last Lok Sabha election (for Congress) was registered on the Dhubri seat of Assam, with 10,12,476 votes, where a big demographic change has happened," Trivedi said.
Congress leader Rakibul Hussain was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhubri.
"Last election was the only election when a Congress leader wrote in an article in a Bangladesh newspaper which had a headlines 'Modi has to go'. What is the link between the headline and the victory in Assam, I leave it to your judgment," he said.
Slamming the opposition, Trivedi said, "When CAA was proposed they tried to make Shaheen Bagh in the whole country. When they look beyond the border, they use the term 'crime against humanity' for Gaza, not for Bangladesh."
He also criticised the Opposition-ruled states which passed resolutions against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
"They are saying Home Ministry is interfering in states, but the reality is that the states have infringed upon the rights of the Home Ministry. Several states passed resolutions against the CAA, even though only the Centre can make laws on citizenship," he said.
Trivedi said the abrogation of Article 370 made India "truly secular," as the amendment that added to the preamble the word 'secular' was not accepted by Jammu and Kashmir before that.
He gave the Home Ministry the credit for the Maha Kumbh being held "without any major incidents," and voiced his support for a population control law.
According to the Uttar Pradesh government, 30 pilgrims were killed and 60 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh on January 29.
Participating in the debate, Congress MP Ajay Maken, who earlier served as a Minister of State in the Home Ministry, raised concerns over law and order situation in Delhi.
"Delhi has become the crime capital of India, and it comes directly under the Home Ministry, even though it has the highest police-population ratio," said Maken.
He said the Union and Delhi governments should work together to improve the law and order in the national capital.
He also slammed the action taken by Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government against agitating farmers, and said the Home Ministry has started counting agitations as "crimes against public peace."
"The question is do agitations come in the category of crime? Are farmers criminal? Are we in a democracy or a police state? Agitation is not a crime, when BJP was in opposition they also used to stage agitation," he said.
Maken also expressed concern over youth falling prey to drugs, and urged the Union government to take action, to protect the "demographic dividend" that India has.