BOKAKHAT/ LAKHIMPUR (Assam): Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Citizenship Amendment Bill will not be passed at any cost and the Congress will protect the language, culture and traditions of the people of the Northeast.
"The BJP had brought the Bill in Parliament. It was an attack on the language, thought and independence of the people of the region. We did not allow the Bill to be passed then (in Rajya Sabha) and will ensure that it is not passed in future too," he said.
The Congress president accused Modi of taking away the special status and special industrial policy which was given to the Northeast by the party's government to tackle the unique problems faced by the region.
The Congress, he said, will restore the special status and special industrial policy for the Northeast along with constitution of a new Planning Commission if it came to power.
"It will ensure that the region enjoys facilities and goes on to become a manufacturing hub as it was envisaged under the UPA's Look East Policy," Gandhi said.
The Congress chief addressed two rallies -- one in support of Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi in Bokakhat and the other for party candidate Anil Buragohain at Lakhimpur.
He said the country is facing the worst unemployment scenario in the last five years and Congress will ensure facilities so that youths can start their own businesses.
The party is also committed to ensure that tea garden workers receive minimum wages which Modi had promised them before the last Lok Sabha polls but failed to give them, he said.