Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday came down heavily on Opposition parties, especially targeting the Congress, in poll-bound Assam for “issuing statements in defence of infiltrators” and said that they “cannot save” the interest of Assamese people.
Modi launched the attack while addressing a rally after inaugurating the new terminal building of Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati. He went after the Congress for “ignoring” the development of Assam and the Northeast and for “defending” the influx.
The tone and tenor of his 28-minute speech were similar to what he had said on “ghuspetiyas” (infiltrators) during his back-to-back rallies in Mangaldoi and Numaligarh during his last visit to Assam on September 14, making it clear that influx, a sensitive issue in Assam, will be a key poll plank alongside development in the upcoming Assembly elections in March-April.
Criticising previous governments for “keeping” Assam and the Northeast away from development, Modi said the nation had to pay a heavy price in terms of security, unity and integrity.
Modi said the success in the ongoing development of Assam and the Northeast was being achieved because the government was “safeguarding the identity and culture of the region” while attacking the Opposition of “conspiring to erase this identity, and this conspiracy was not limited to just a few years”.
He said the “roots of this wrongdoing” went back to the pre-Independence era, when the Muslim League and the British government were preparing the ground for India’s partition. At that time, there was also a plan to make Assam a part of undivided Bengal, that is, Bangladesh, he said.
“The Congress was going to be part of this conspiracy, but (Assam’s first chief minister) Gopinath Bardoloi ji stood against his own party (Congress), opposed this plot to destroy Assam’s identity, and saved Assam from being separated from the country,” he said.
Modi had unveiled an 80-foot statue of Bharat Ratna Bardoloi outside the new terminal of the airport.
Modi said while Bardoloi had “saved” Assam before Independence, the Congress “once again began its anti-Assam and anti-national activities”.
“To expand their vote bank, Congress went for religious appeasement, giving free rein to the (infiltrator) vote bank in Bengal and Assam, the region’s demography was altered, and these infiltrators encroached upon forests and lands. As a result, the security and identity of the entire state of Assam were put at risk,” Modi asserted.
The government under Himanta Biswa Sarma is working diligently to free Assam’s resources from illegal and anti-national encroachments, he said.
“Efforts are being made at every level to ensure Assam’s resources benefit the people of Assam. The Union government has also taken strict measures to stop infiltration, with identification processes underway to remove and detect illegal infiltrators. But the Congress and the INDIA bloc have openly adopted anti-national agendas, even as the Supreme Court has spoken about removing infiltrators,” the Prime Minister said.
“It is, therefore, essential to remain vigilant, for the people of Assam to stay united, and to continue defeating the Congress’s conspiracies to prevent Assam’s development from being derailed,” he added.
New terminal
Modi said the new terminal building would boost connectivity, commerce and tourism across Assam and the entire Northeast. The building, spread over nearly 1.4 lakh square metres, can handle 1.3 crore passengers annually.
The airport features orchid-inspired columns, a “sky forest”, full-body scanners, AI-driven operations and more.