Guwahati, March 20: In an apparent effort to upstage the AGP and BJP on their pet issue of illegal immigration ahead of the Assembly elections, the Congress today said it was open to the idea of bringing in a legislation to punish those who employ illegal migrants in Assam.
Admitting that infiltration would be a major issue in the elections, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said he endorsed the idea of a law to punish those who provide jobs to illegal migrants.
?I fully agree that there should be a law here to punish those who provide jobs to illegal migrants,? Singh said.
Citing the example of West Bengal, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said the problem of illegal migrants was not restricted to Assam alone.
He, however, lambasted both the AGP and BJP for painting the issue in political colours. He said both parties were interested in keeping the issue alive only to gain political mileage.
?What right does AGP have to talk about the issue when it did not do anything to solve the problem when it was in power for two terms? The BJP, on the other hand, always looks at the issue from a communal angle,? Singh alleged.
He also took to task the nascent Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) on the issue, saying that the party had entered into a ?tacit understanding? with the AGP, which had fought a legal battle to scrap the IM (DT) Act.
The AUDF was floated with the sole agenda of teaching the Congress a lesson for its failure to protect the IM (DT) Act. Singh said his party had tried its best to retain the act.After the act was struck down, it brought about an amendment in the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964, to protect genuine Indian citizens, he said.
Singh said there were 15 to 16 rebel candidates of the party. Efforts are on to pacify them and restrain them from contesting the elections against the party?s official candidate.
The Congress has named former chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Anowara Taimur as its working president. This is a stopgap arrangement because party president Bhubaneswar Kalita, candidate from Rangia, will be busy campaigning.
