Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Thursday contradicted Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s comment on the growing Muslim population in the state since 1951.

Also Read: Himanta Biswa Sarma claims Muslim population in Assam now 40%: ‘Matter of life and death’

The chief minister of Assam, during a press conference in Ranchi on Wednesday, said, “Changing demography is a big issue for me. In Assam, the Muslim population has reached 40 per cent today. In 1951, it was 12 per cent.”

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Sarma also claimed that tribal girls were being lured into inter-faith marriages by ‘illegal immigrants’, saying, “We have lost many districts. This is not a political issue for me. It is a matter of life and death for me.”

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His comments caused a stir and a day later Sushmita Dev asserted that the chief minister has got his facts wrong.

The TMC MP put up a video on social media stating that the Muslim population in Assam in 1951 was 25 per cent and not 12 per cent.

“A false statement has come to light from Assam CM from Jharkhand. Firstly I want to tell that according to government data in 1952, 25 per cent of the Muslim population was registered,” she said.

She also questioned chief minister Sarma’s numbers asking how he figured out this percentage increase without a census being done in the country in the last ten years.

She said,“I want to remind Assam CM that the Indian Government was supposed to conduct the population census but given the COVID-19 excuse, the census to date has not taken place…then how did the 40 per cent figure come from?”

The TMC MP also blamed the chief minister for not effectively sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border, with only 78 per cent secured.

CM Sarma had made thecomments in Jharkhand, where he is the co-in charge of assembly elections. He warned the people of Jharkhand that what had happened to tribal women in Assam, was also happening in their state and that a BJP government would stop this practice.