GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday drew a comparison between 10 years of NDA and Congress governments in Assam, hitting out at the rival party on the issue of "infiltrators".
Addressing a rally at Kaliabor to drum up support for BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate Keshab Mahanta, Shah claimed that the Congress had never done anything for Assam's development.
"From 2004 to 2014, there was a Congress government in Assam and the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre. Assam gave India a Prime Minister and the Prime Minister gave Assam only Rs 1.28 lakh crore of development funds in 10 years, compared to Rs 9.78 lakh crore given by the Narendra Modi government during 2014-24," Shah said to prove the BJP's commitment to Assam.
He cited infrastructure and development projects, including roads, bridges, medical and engineering colleges, built in Assam in the last decade. He said the NDA government built the Swahid Smarak Kshetra to honour the martyrs of Assam Agitation, installed the Lachit statue and translated the life story of this brave Ahom General into 21 languages.
"The NDA, not the Congress, honoured (Assam's first Chief Minister) Gopinath Bordoloi and singer-musician Bhupen Hazarika by conferring the Bharat Ratna. The NDA also accorded classical language status to Assamese," Shah said.
Pointing out that more than 20 peace accords were signed in Assam and over 10,000 insurgents were brought to the mainstream, he said Assam was once known for bombs, bullets and blasts but the Modi government established peace.
"What did the Congress do? The Congress allowed infiltrators to enter Assam," Shah said, clarifying that the BJP stands against the infiltrators but not against Assam's indigenous Muslims.
He alleged that the Congress had handed the land of Kaziranga National Park over to the infiltrators but the BJP-AGP government cleared encroachment and protected Assam’s pride rhinos, thus boosting tourism.
"It is time to form an NDA government in Assam for the third time, with Himanta Biswa Sarma as the Chief Minister. The NDA brought a big change in Assam in five years. The last 10 years of Assam will be written in golden letters," Shah said.
He clarified that the BJP-AGP alliance is as certain as the sun and the moon. "The Congress spreads rumour that the BJP-AGP alliance will not last long, but let me tell the Congress that this alliance will continue," he further stated.