GUWAHATI: The ruling party of BJP had fought the 2016 Assam elections with the tagline of ‘Battle of Saraighat’ when it campaigned that it would secure the future of Assam and its people if comes to power. However, five years down the line, the BJP seemed to have forgotten the history of the Battle of Saraighat as Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech during the launch of Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence in Ahmedabad mentioned Ahom general Lachit Borphukan as a noted freedom fighter from Assam.

PM Modi in his speech while remembering the legends of the freedom fight of India, mentioned Borphukan as one of the greatest freedom fighters from Assam.

Lachit Borphukanm was the 17th Century general of Assam’s erstwhile Ahom kingdom who was the ‘hero’ of the Battle of Saraighat who led the battle that defeated the Mughal forces’ for capturing Assam in 1671. The Ahom general had died on April 25, 1672, two centuries before the starting of India’s freedom struggle.

Immediately, the Opposition party of Congress came down heavily on the PM for his ‘lack of knowledge’ of Assam.

Assam Congress spokesperson Rituparna Konwar told TIME8, “It proves that the BJP has used the Battle of Saraighat as a tagline for their campaign in 2016. It’s shameful that the PM who always seen to be proudly wearing Assamese Gamosa, doesn’t know Assam’s history. He seems to be just speaking the lines written on the teleprompter.”

Watch the PM’s speech here:

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