Abhisar Sharma, a propagandist journalist working for the Chinese-funded media outlet News Click, recently uploaded a video on his YouTube channel titled “मध्य प्रदेश, राजस्थान चुनाव में साम्प्रदायिक भड़काऊ बयान क्यों?” (Archived link of the video) in which he blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the country’s communal problems and claimed that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa has issued a statement that he does not want Muslim votes. In the video, at the time frame of 2:58 min, Abhisar says “BJP leader Himanta Biswa has openly said that he does not need Muslim votes. This is an extremely contentious remark. The communal hatemongering game is openly being played.” While claiming that Himanta has given such a controversial statement, he attached a screenshot of the ABP Live report in his video, which featured a Hindi headline that translates to “Do not want the votes of Muslims because…’ what did Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma say?”.
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Only Fact began its research by reviewing the ABP’s media report, which Abhisar included in his video. According to the ABP report, Himanta Biswa made the comment during an interview with NDTV. The 30-minute-41-second (Archive link) interview footage was discovered on NDTV’s YouTube channel. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spoke exclusively with NDTV’s Executive Director Sanjay Pugalia about the North East’s development over the last nine years, why the people of the region do not blame the Centre for the Manipur crisis, and why he does not believe in Muslim voter appeasement.
In the video from 15 minutes and 20 seconds, Biswa says, “Today in Assam, Hindus and Muslims are living peacefully. During Congress rule, owing to bad policies, every 4 or 5 years, the state witnessed communal conflict. He also emphasizes the need to end Madrasa education, noting that the state will soon open seven colleges exclusively for Muslim females.” The interviewer asked him whether this could be interpreted as a Muslim vote bank for the BJP.
In response to the interviewer, he states, “For the time being, we do not have Muslim votes. I have stated unequivocally that we don’t need the votes of Muslims, particularly Bengali Muslims, at this time. Vote bank politics is the fundamental source of all issues. Congress needed votes, so they didn’t create roads, schools, colleges, or housing. They didn’t provide electricity to the state, and they didn’t let the Prime Minister’s schemes be implemented in the state.”
“Now, for the next ten years, development in Muslim areas must be done,” he continues. It must be assured that Muslim kids do not attend madrassas and instead attend medical college. A Muslim female should attend school and finish her education. All of this work should have been done 10–15 years ago. I will then go and ask for votes. In the 2016 and 2019 elections, I decided not to campaign in their area.”
This interview with NDTV shows that the Assam Chief Minister was not inciting communal hatred. “I don’t want Muslim votes,” he merely meant that he wants to work for this community first, and then campaign in their areas and encourage them to vote for him. Aside from that, the ABP article provided the context of this speech, which Abhisar Sharma ignored and selectively quoted Himanta to bolster his narrative of the BJP instilling communal animosity in the country.
| Claim | Himanta Biswa said he does not want votes of Muslims |
| Claimed by | Abhisar Sharma |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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