Congress will protect infiltrators in Assam if voted to power: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress would introduce a law to protect infiltrators if voted to power in Assam. Addressing rallies, he criticised the party’s record and highlighted BJP’s development agenda ahead of the state elections
Gogamukh/Behali (Assam): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged that the Congress, if it comes to power in Assam, will bring in a law to protect infiltrators, which the BJP and its allies will not allow.
Addressing a poll rally at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district, Modi claimed that the Congress aims to “turn the majority community into a minority and create a permanent vote bank of infiltrators”.
Before the BJP came to power in 2014, the Congress had “tried to introduce a law at the Centre”, but the NDA had opposed it, he said.
“Congress leaders are openly saying that they will bring a new law in Assam to protect infiltrators and are openly supporting them,” Modi said.
He also accused the party of “trying to divide the country as the Muslim League did during Partition”.
“The Congress has also stabbed the Constitution prepared by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Modi said.
“For the Congress, there are two families — one in Delhi and another in Assam, and their priority is the interest of their families and not that of the people,” the Prime Minister said, alluding to the Gandhi family and that of state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi.
Speaking at another rally at Behali in Biswanath district, the Prime Minister alleged that the Congress did “not deliver justice to Assam’s resources”, while the BJP is “utilising the state’s diverse assets for its development”.
He accused the Congress of being “opposed to development and ‘bhrashtachar ki janani’ (mother of corruption)”.
“They (Congress) have compromised with Assam’s ‘aatma’ (soul), ‘shaan’ (pride), ‘pehchan’ (identity) and ‘suraksha’ (security),” Modi alleged.
He also charged the Congress with encouraging infiltrators to “settle on sattras, namghars and temple land parcels in various districts of the state to create a vote bank”.
“The BJP has taken action in this regard and is freeing encroached land from the clutches of illegal immigrants,” Modi said.
“Congress corruption also spread to many areas and led to the encroachment of forest land and sanctuaries, endangering the existence of the one-horned rhinoceros. The BJP’s double-engine government has taken tough action and changed the scenario,” he said.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of not giving land rights to tea garden workers for building their houses.
“The tea industry in Assam is 200 years old. The Congress was in power for over 60 years. The Congress made tea garden workers struggle for their basic rights, but the BJP is correcting this wrong,” he claimed.
Modi asserted that the BJP has started giving land rights to tea garden workers, which “the Congress failed to provide in 60 years”.
The Prime Minister said if the BJP returns to power, it will implement the Uniform Civil Code and safeguard tribals under the Sixth Schedule to protect Assam’s identity.
“The BJP’s 10-year rule heralded a new dawn of ‘seva’ (service) and ‘sushasan’ (good governance) in Assam,” he said.
The Prime Minister asserted that only the BJP-led NDA can build modern infrastructure in Assam.
Modi claimed that the Congress had built only three bridges over the Brahmaputra river in 60 to 65 years, while the BJP has constructed five bridges in 10 years, making lives and livelihoods easier.
“It is not that Assam lacks resources, but the Congress, in its quest for power, divided Assamese society and did not let people of the two banks of the Brahmaputra meet. The NDA government understood the hardships and took the initiative of building bridges,” Modi said.
He also assured that the Subansiri hydroelectric project will help protect Assam from floods.
The BJP, in its manifesto, has announced projects worth around Rs 1,800 crore to make Assam free from floods, Modi said.
He said that while Assam is known globally for tea, it will now also be recognised for semiconductor chips to be manufactured at the Jagiroad facility.
The Prime Minister said it was his first visit to Assam after the election schedule was announced, and he began his campaign by visiting a tea garden where he took the blessings of women workers.
“My life is linked to tea, and I tried to learn how to pluck leaves from tea bushes,” he said, in an apparent reference to his ‘chaiwala’ days.
Modi claimed that more than 22 lakh poor families have been given pucca houses in the last 10 years of BJP rule, and the party guarantees houses for 15 lakh more families.
He said the BJP’s double-engine government will ensure that 40 lakh women become ‘Lakhpati’, up from the current count of three lakh.
He added that the BJP’s manifesto outlines a roadmap for more government jobs and self-employment opportunities.
Modi claimed that the BJP “does not believe in polarisation but in ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’”.
“The people should vote for ‘vikas’ and ‘virasat’,” the Prime Minister said, adding that he will ensure Assam’s continued progress.
“The BJP will make a hat-trick in Assam elections with people’s blessings, whereas the Congress will make a century of defeats,” he added.
Elections to Assam’s 126 Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9, with counting of votes on May 4.
