Dulal Kalita at his grocery store. Photo: Scroll.in

What is the 'Modi Generation' thinking a decade later? Journalists from the news outlet Scroll.in have attempted to answer this by exploring the perspectives of young Indian voters who first cast their votes in 2014, a cohort they have dubbed the 'Modi Generation'.

Dulal Kalita, a 29-year-old from the town of Amguri in Assam's Sivasagar district, hoped his first vote in 2014 would bring meaningful change to his life and community. He owns a small grocery store in Amguri. He recalls a glimmer of hope in 2014. In the current Lok Sabha elections, he voted on April 19 for the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat in Assam, with further voting to take place in other parts of the state on April 26 and May 7.

Dulal mentioned widespread corruption allegations against the previous Congress government. "We hoped that by electing Modi's government, we would be freed from the corruption and misrule of the Congress era," he said.

He also hoped that voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance would address the problem of illegal immigration in Assam.

Referencing Modi's campaign promises in 2014, Dulal said, "Modi had promised that after May 16, Bangladeshis would pack up and leave. Foreigners would have to pack up and vacate our land."

However, Dulal's hopes have turned into disillusionment. When it comes to the issue of illegal immigrants, he says, the government rolled out the 'red carpet' through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The CAA, a contentious law in India, proposes citizenship for adherents of six religions from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, excluding Muslims, even without proper documentation. This law has been seen as discriminatory against Muslims and has sparked protests across India, including Assam. The All Assam Students' Union and other Assamese nationalist groups have expressed specific objections, arguing that the law would facilitate an influx of immigrants from Bangladesh, changing the demographic and cultural landscape of Assam without any checks.

In the 1980s, the All Assam Students' Union led a movement against undocumented immigrants, which culminated in the 1985 Assam Accord. This agreement deemed any entry into the state after March 24, 1971, as illegal. However, the revised law allows for granting citizenship to those who entered the state after this date, a point that has been contentious.

"The CAA will destroy the Assamese community. It was the biggest issue for Assam," Dulal remarked.

He criticizes the current BJP MP from Jorhat, Tapan Gogoi, a former student leader with the All Assam Students' Union, who joined the BJP in 2015. Dulal accuses him of abandoning Assamese nationalism for Hindu nationalism.

Moreover, Dulal also accuses the BJP of flip-flopping on the issue of big dams on Assam's rivers, a controversial topic since the mid-2000s. He notes that while the BJP had protested against these projects, they have initiated several large dam projects since coming to power, which he believes will adversely affect the lower basin residents and damage ecosystems like the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.

Dulal reflects on Modi's unfulfilled promises and the BJP's shift toward privatization in education, citing the closure of over 8,000 primary schools in Assam under the BJP government.

In concluding his observations, Dulal laments the intertwining of religion with politics under the BJP, stressing that governance, worship, and politics should remain distinct endeavors.