GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Assam's leadership after next year's Assembly elections would be on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and not on a leader who "protects" infiltrators and visits Pakistan frequently.
“Assam cannot be led by a leader who protects infiltrators. Assam cannot be led by a leader who often visits Pakistan. Assam's leadership cannot be given to people who allow infiltrators to encroach upon land. Assam’s leadership cannot be given to the corrupt. Assam’s leadership will be on (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Himanta Biswa Sarma," Shah said addressing the 'NDA Panchayat Pratinidhi Sammelan' in Guwahati.
He did not take the name of the "leader" but his obvious reference was to Assam Congress president and deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi. Gogoi, the Jorhat MP, is pitted against Sarma as Assam braces for Assembly elections.
Shah also attacked Gogoi – now by taking his name – for allegedly opposing the reclamation of land encroached upon by "infiltrators." Shah said, “A major achievement of the NDA government in Assam is that it reclaimed over 1.19 lakh hectares of encroached land. Should we not clear land encroached upon by infiltrators? But Gaurav Gogoi is opposing it. I want to tell him, oppose it as much as you can, the BJP government will clear every inch of land encroached upon by the infiltrators.”
He added that the lands of the "Satras" (neo-Vaishnavite monasteries), encroached upon when the Congress was in power, had been cleared by the government. "Assam's biggest problem was child marriage involving infiltrators. Then, the Himanta Biswa Sarma government launched a drive, putting those who married minor girls, behind bars," Shah said.
In his speech, he also threw light on how the Modi government restored peace in Northeast by signing various accords with insurgent groups which saw over 10,000 youth lay down arms and join the mainstream, and the “unprecedented” development that the region witnessed in the past 11 years under the NDA.
"PM Modi Ji started a new era of development in Northeast. In Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma ensured that development reached every village and every individual. The result is that the BJP is winning here time and again," Shah said.
Earlier in the day, he inaugurated the newly-constructed 'Brahmaputra Wing' of Raj Bhavan, Assam, marking a significant milestone in the architectural and administrative progress of the state’s seat of governance.