Tea Garden Wages Row: Assam CM Questions Livelihood Concerns in Bengal

PTI, April 16, 2026, Kalchini/Cooch Behar : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday accused the Mamata Banerjee government of colluding with tea garden owners to reject an increase in daily wages of workers in West Bengal and Assam.

"When she did not announce any increase in the daily wages, we unilaterally hiked the daily wages of tea garden workers in Assam from Rs 240 to Rs 280 along with ration," he said, addressing an election rally in support of BJP candidates here at the Alipurduar district bordering Assam.

Speaking at this tea garden town in the Dooars region of north Bengal, Sarma said he promised these workers in Assam that the next BJP government will increase their daily wages to Rs 450-Rs 500.

He said tea garden workers in Assam have been given land rights, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised Rs 1.60 lakh each for construction of houses, while Banerjee “has not done anything for their welfare”.

"How can tea garden workers eat fish or meat with a daily wage of only Rs 240; Mamata ji, raise their wages so that they can also eat such food," Sarma said.

At another rally in Cooch Behar, Sarma accused the Trinamool Congress and Banerjee of making false claims that the BJP would stop consumption of meat and fish if it wins the assembly polls in West Bengal.

He asserted that one can eat as much non-vegetarian food as one wants in saffron party-ruled Assam. The only restriction in Assam is on consumption of beef, he said.

"You can go to Dhubri or Goalpara and eat fish and meat as much as you want; there is no restriction," Sarma said.

"(CM) Mamata Banerjee is worried that once a BJP government is formed in West Bengal, the beef trade here will stop," he alleged.

Sarma also invited Banerjee to come to Assam and “eat as much mutton and chicken as she would like”.

The Assam chief minister claimed that the Trinamool Congress wants cattle smuggling to Bangladesh to “continue so that they can fill their pockets."

Central investigating agencies, including the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, have been probing alleged cattle smuggling from West Bengal to Bangladesh.