Union home minister Amit Shah (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday trained his guns on Congress over its years in power in Assam, blaming the party for infiltration and alleging that it had “left our borders open to infiltrators” in what he described as an “attempt to alter the demographics” of the state. He also drew a contrast with the current BJP government under chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, praising his “work to clear lakhs of acres of land occupied by infiltrators.”Addressing a gathering in poll-bound Assam, Shah strongly criticised the Congress’s record, saying, “Assam was beset by two problems: infiltrators were usurping the rights of the Assamese… These Congress governments left our borders open to infiltrators. Infiltrators continued to enter Assam. An attempt was made to alter the demographics of Assam by snatching away the jobs of Assam’s youth, the food grains of the poor, and the land of the villages.”Shah further praised the Sarma-led government, stating, “In the second five years, our CM Himanta Biswa Sarma worked to clear lakhs of acres of land occupied by infiltrators and remove them. Now, elections are coming for the third time. Form the BJP government here once again. I promise you that we will send back every single infiltrator who entered during the Congress regime.”He also highlighted infrastructure development under the BJP, saying, “Congress ruled for years, but it did nothing for the development of Assam. What Congress could not do in fifty years, we did in ten years. In the last five years, 14 kilometres of road have been built in Assam every day… Almost hundreds of bridges were built, including four major new bridges.”Notably, CM Himanta Sarma was previously part of the Congress government in Assam. After strained relations with the party, he joined the BJP in 2015 and later became chief minister, succeeding his BJP colleague Sarbananda Sonowal.Meanwhile, Shah also launched the second phase of the Vibrant Villages Programme in Assam, which will cover 1,954 border villages across 15 states and two Union Territories. The launch was held in Cachar district.Earlier in the day, the Union home minister arrived in the poll-bound state on a two-day visit to launch border infrastructure projects and address public gatherings.
