Won’t allow illegal Bangladeshis: Shah

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, February 10

BJP president Amit Shah today said not a single Bangladeshi infiltrator would be able to sneak into Assam, if the BJP was voted to power in the forthcoming Assembly election.

Addressing two rallies in Assam — at Kokrajhar and Nagaon — Shah said illegal migrants from Bangladesh had been posing a threat to the identity of the sons of the soil.

“A BJP government in Assam will ensure no more illegal migration from Bangladesh by securing the border,” Shah said adding it is the Congress that has been encouraging illegal infiltration.

Shah today addressed a party workers' rally in Nagaon and the celebration of 14th Bodoland Day organised by the BJP's ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) in Kokrajhar.

Promising uniform and all-encompassing development in the state, he lambasted the 15-year-old Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam for putting the state on reverse gear of development. He accused Gogoi of running a corrupt government.

“Assam is rich in natural resources and has efficient work forces and great tourism potential. Yet the state is lagging behind in all fronts, be it unavailability of power, roads, clean drinking water or basic healthcare in rural areas.”

“Even the one-horned rhino that attracts so many tourists to Assam could not be protected by the present Congress government as about 100 rhinos have been poached over the last three years. The number of unemployed has increased from 9 lakh to 23 lakh over the last 15 years,” he said.

Addressing a rally in Kokrajhar, Shah pledged the BJP-led NDA government would grant more than the Rs 1,000 crore development fund demanded by the ruling BPF for the BTC areas. He appealed to the people of Bodoland areas in Assam to facilitate a BJP-BPF (Bodoland People's Front) government in the state for the sake of development.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi rebutted allegations made by Amit Shah saying, “If my government is corrupt, why the BJP has allowed one of my former ministers (Himanta Biswa Sarma) to join the party. If the BJP loves Assam so much, then why the special status of the state has been done away with by the BJP government at the Centre.”