The video came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam’s communally-volatile Darrang, where he referred to ‘illegal infiltration’ and “attempts to change demographic balance in border areas”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during laying of foundation stone and inauguration of development works, in Darrang, Assam. Photo: PTI
It was first posted by The Wire
New Delhi: Ahead of the 2026 Assam assembly elections, on September 15, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit posted a blatantly communal AI generated video on X (formerly Twitter). While there has been no response yet from the Election Commission of India, appeals to religion constitute “corrupt practices” under the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951.
The video was posted just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam’s communally-volatile Darrang on September 14, where he once again referred to illegal infiltration and “attempts to change demographic balance in border areas”.
The BJP Assam’s video titled “Assam without BJP” shows a series of images with skull cap wearing men and burqa-clad women in various spots including Assam’s tea estates, Guwahati airport, Guwahati Accoland, Guwahati Ranghar and illegal immigrants “acquiring government land” and warns of 90% Muslim population.
The video also warns of beef legalisation with an image of a skull cap wearing man cutting meat and AI generated images of Assam Congress president and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi calling them “Pakistan-linked Party”.
It ends with the caption: “Choose your vote carefully.”
A day earlier, in Darrang, Modi reminded the people that the first spark of the anti-foreigner movement of the 1980s was ignited in Mangaldoi. He also referred to the eviction drives under chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government as a move aimed at ‘infiltrators’.
The Wire has reported that Modi skipped any mention of the fact that those who have been evicted as ‘infiltrators’ have been settled elsewhere by the Sarma government and granted alternative land and compensation.
While the assembly elections in Assam are due in 2026, the state BJP’s video has already pitched the campaign as a communally polarised one, in the border state, by singling out the state’s “Miya” (Muslims of Bengal origin) community.
The BJP’s openly communal campaign comes close on the heels of the prime minister himself making repeated allusions to religion in his campaign speeches in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, raising questions on the violation of the Model Code of Conduct and the role of the Election Commission which has been seen as wanting.
Section 123 (3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 deems as a “corrupt practice”, the appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the grounds of his religion, race, caste, community, or language or the use of, or appeal to, religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols, such as the national flag or the national emblem, for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate.
Section 123 (3A) also states that the promotion of, or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language, by a candidate or his agent or any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate, is a corrupt practice.
