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Congress kept borders open for infiltrators, says Shah in Assam
Amit Shah criticized Congress for border issues in Assam and promised to resolve infiltration if BJP wins, while launching the Vibrant Villages Programme
Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the Congress of leaving borders open and allowing infiltrators to enter Assam, further saying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would resolve the issue within five years if it returns to power in the northeastern state.
Speaking at the launch of the second phase of the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP-II) at Nathanpur village near the India-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Cachar district, Shah said that the poll-bound state faces two major challenges –– infiltration and floods, and blamed the Congress for keeping the state away from development.
“Congress ruled the state for more than 50 years and kept the borders open for infiltrators. Our government has been fighting this for the last 10 years. If we come to power again this year, each illegal migrant will be identified and pushed back from Assam,” he said.
On the issue of floods, Shah said the government is working on long-term solutions, including creating a large number of ponds and diverting the excess flow of the Brahmaputra during the monsoon towards farmers’ fields and lakes to enhance irrigation and tourism. Large lakes will also be developed to boost tourism, he added.
Shah said the VVP-II scheme would contribute to strengthening border security further. According to him, the initiative will accelerate development in border areas, curb migration and further help prevent infiltration.
He said that the objective of the scheme is to ensure that people residing in border areas do not migrate to other places due to lack of development and opportunities, but instead become contributors to national security by acting as the eyes and ears of the nation, thereby helping prevent cross-border crimes and infiltration.
“Through this scheme, more than 140 bordering villages in Assam will be developed just like any other developed village in the country,” Shah said.
The programme will cover nine districts, 26 blocks and 140 villages in Assam, which Shah said, would receive full development benefits like any other village in the country.
Other states and UTs included under the programme are Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Shah said Assam has built about 14km of roads every day over the last five years, making it one of the leading states in daily road construction, with over 24,000km of roads upgraded and four major bridges constructed.
He further said that apart from tackling infiltration, the state government has reduced incidents of bomb blasts and armed conflicts by curbing militant groups. He also said multidimensional poverty in the state has declined from 37% in 2013 to 14% in 2024.
Speaking at the programme, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a ₹22,000 crore greenfield highway between Meghalaya and Barak Valley on March 14.
He said this would be the first greenfield highway in the Northeast, stretching from Borapani in Meghalaya to Panchgram in Assam, and that the PM is scheduled to visit Silchar for the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah appealed in Tripura on Friday that nearly all languages and dialects of the northeast have accepted Devanagari script and Tripura should also accept the same.
While speaking at the joint regional official language conference held at Hapania International Fair ground in West Tripura district, Shah said, “We can preserve our identity in our country’s script. Language and script should not be matter of conflict. Language and script are medium for development”, he said.
He said that there cannot be any dispute between Hindi language and Indian languages because they are “sisters of the same mother who have approached forward by holding hands together” and added that “when Hindi is promoted then all the languages become strengthened automatically and all the languages gain strength”.
“ There are many languages in the country that have their own script but there are also many dialects that have no script. These dialects should also be preserved and stored. If these dialects are to be protected then there will be necessary to make a common script and from here the idea of Devanagari script gets strength”, Shah said.
