“Congress see vote bank in infiltrators,” Amit Shah said. (File)
Guwahati:
Stepping up its campaign for the three-phased Assam elections that begin later this month, the BJP on Sunday saw both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh campaigning for the party in the state.
Mr Shah promised to rid Assam of its devastating annual floods after wiping out “andolan” (protests) and “aatankwad” (terrorism). The state saw widespread protests just last year against the controversial citizenship law in which five people were killed.
He also lashed out at the Congress for partnering Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF party while Mr Singh said that terrorism and insurgency have declined in the state because of the efforts of the government to solve issues held up for decades.
“Congress see vote bank in infiltrators. In Kerala, Congress has allied with Muslim League, in West Bengal, they forged an alliance with ISF and in Assam with (Badruddin) Ajmal,” Mr Shah said addressing a crowd in Margherita, a crucial seat in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district.
Maulana Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front has a major following among Muslims of Bangladeshi origin in Western Assam that shares riverine borders, prone to infiltration from the neighbouring country.
“In the last 15 years of Congress rule in Assam, they had failed to stop illegal influx from Bangladesh. For their cheap vote bank politics, they encouraged infiltration. But if our government returns in Assam, we promise that we will free Assam from the illegal influx,” Mr Shah said.
While campaigning for the party’s candidate for the Margherita constituency, MLA Bhaskar Sharma, the Union Home Minister also addressed the flood issue that is not just recurrent in Upper Assam, but also in Western Assam where the river widens before it enters Bangladesh as the Padma.
“Within five years, we would solve the flood problem in Assam. For flood-free Assam, we have done a satellite survey and found that there are many water bodies where we are thinking to divert the floodwater in a scientific method. In the last five years, our government has been working hard to end several decades’ old militancy problems in Assam. Now, the militancy problem has been solved and within five years, the militancy problems will be completely solved,” Amit Shah added.
Addressing a rally in Biswanath, Rajnath Singh said, “After our government came to power in Assam, we started all-round development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In our five years of BJP rule in Assam, there is no spot of corruption. Our party has worked hard for the development of the state. If BJP is again voted into power in Assam, the development will move much faster,” Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh was campaigning for sitting BJP MLA Pramod Borthakur, who will take on Congress nominee Anjan Borah in the Biswanath seat.
“We have sealed most of the part of the international border in Dhubri. Whatever is left, we will fence the area after the BJP returns to power in the state,” Mr Singh said.