Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that the Congress, instead of supporting the country's army, was backing terrorists groomed by Pakistan.
Addressing a programme at Mangaldoi in Assam's Darrang district, he accused the grand old party of protecting infiltrators and anti-national forces.
The prime minister asserted that the BJP would not allow infiltrators to grab land and their conspiracy to change the demography.
"The Congress, instead of supporting the Indian Army, backs terrorists groomed by Pakistan. It protects infiltrators and anti-national forces," the PM alleged, while addressing the public meeting.
The Prime Minister invoked Jawaharlal Nehru and said the country's first Prime Minister had said after the India-China war in 1962 that the "wounds of the people of North East had not healed". "The current generation of Congress is sprinkling salt on those wounds."
He also claimed that the Congress ruled Assam for decades, but built "only three bridges" over the Brahmaputra river, while the BJP-led dispensation constructed six such structures in the last 10 years.
He also praised Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for "evicting infiltrators from encroached land and ensuring that farmers can now cultivate on these plots".
Raising infiltration, a key issue in Assam, Modi said the Congress's "biggest focus is vote bank" and it "never cares about the country". "Now the Congress has become a protector of anti-nationals and infiltrators. When Congress was in power, it encouraged infiltration, and now it wants infiltrators to settle in the country forever and decide India's future," he said.
The PM asserted that India was emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and said that Assam's growth rate was 13 per cent.
"This was achieved due to the efforts of the double-engine government. The Centre and the state government are developing Assam as a health hub. The Northeast has a big role to play in achieving the 'Viksit Bharat' dream," the PM added.