Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday flagged what he described as the threat to Assam from ghuspetiyas while urging voters in the poll-bound state to give the ruling BJP another term, asserting that it is the only party capable of freeing Assam from infiltrators.

The Congress hit back, asking what happened to the BJP’s pre-poll promise in 2014 to deport Bangladeshi infiltrators after coming to power at the Centre.

Speaking for 26.22 minutes while inaugurating the redevelopment project of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva’s birthplace, Batadrava Than, in Nagaon district, Shah said the sacred site had been cleared of Bangladeshi infiltrators after years of occupation.

Targeting the Congress, Shah said: “Today is a very good day. I don’t want to talk about politics but I want to say one thing. Good things which have taken place should be praised. There were Bangladeshi ghuspetiya (infiltrators) at the Sankardeva birthplace. Was this ok? I want to heartily congratulate (chief minister) Himanta Biswa Sarma ji for removing the ghuspetiyas from this sacred site and to re-establish the naamghar...”

Eviction drive was carried out in Batadrava area in 2022.

He said the BJP-led state government has freed more than 1.29 lakh bighas of land from infiltrators across the state, including areas in Kaziranga National Park.

Accusing the Congress of having protected infiltrators for years, Shah said the party spoke about Assam’s culture but enacted the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act in 1983, which he said “provided infiltrators a legal pathway to settle here”.

“Today, I want to announce from Srimanta Sankardeva’s land, it is the pledge of the BJP to identify and remove ghuspetiyas, not only from Assam but from across the country,” Shah said.

The IM(DT) Act, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2005, placed the burden of proof on the complainant, unlike the Foreigners Act, 1946, which requires the person accused of being an illegal foreigner to prove Indian citizenship.

Shah alleged that the Congress allowed infiltrators to enter the state, undermine its culture, expand its vote bank, and damage Assam’s values, literature and traditions.

Appealing for another term for the BJP government, Shah said only those who view infiltrators as a serious threat to national security and Assam’s culture can free the state of the problem. “BJP is that party,” he said.

Over 1.45 lakh bighas have been freed in Assam, affecting about 50,000 people, most of them Muslims. There has been no official statement during the drives identifying the encroachers as illegal infiltrators. Shah on Monday referred to them as Bangladeshi infiltrators. He had raised the influx issue during his last visit to the state in August.

Assam Congress leader Deep Bayan questioned the BJP’s claims, asking what happened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 promise to deport illegal Bangladeshis after assuming power.

“What happened to that promise? They just want to keep the influx issue alive. Instead of blaming Congress... the BJP should tell the people how many foreigners they have detected and deported since 2014. They had similarly raised the influx bogey during the Jharkhand polls, which they lost. People are watching the BJP,” Bayan said.

Raijor Dal founder and MLA Akhil Gogoi warned Shah against indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics, while welcoming the inauguration of the Batadrava cultural project.