There was no peace under Cong, PM took northeast to new heights, says Shah
In the last eight years of Bharatiya Janata Party rule in Assam, the state and the region marched ahead on the path of peace and development, Union home minister Amit Shah said after inaugurating the BJP office in Guwahati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi connected the northeastern states with the rest of the country, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday, even as he hit out at the Congress for alienating the region and pushing it into a cycle of violence.
In the last eight years of Bharatiya Janata Party rule in Assam, the state and the region marched ahead on the path of peace and development, Shah said after inaugurating the BJP office in Guwahati.
“Narendra Modi’s did real Bharat Jodo with north-east,” Shah said, in a veiled dig at the Bharat Jodo Yatra being carried out by the Congress in a bid to rejuvenate the party and strengthen its infrastructure on the ground.
In its 70 years of rule since Independence, the Congress pushed the region into violence and anarchy, Shah said, crediting PM Modi’s leadership for helping the region join the mainstream.
“During the Congress regime, there was no peace, development, or growth and even the culture of the region suffered. But, between 2014 and 2022, it is our good fortune that the Prime Minister has taken the region to greater heights of development. Modiji is like a great banyan tree under whose shade, the region is on its path of fulfilling the development goals set by him,” he said.
Shah said he visited the state several times as a student activist to participate in the Assam agitation against illegal infiltrators. “On many occasions was severely beaten up under the directives of the then Congress chief minister Hiteswar Saikia for raising slogans against Indira Gandhi,” the senior BJP leader said.
“We wanted change but never imagined to form BJP’s independent government here twice,” Shah said. “Love shown by people is appreciation of work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.”
The BJP government has established peace in Assam with 9,000 people laying down arms, he said.
The number of militants in the state was as high as 8,700 during 2006-14 while violence claimed the lives of 500 security personnel in the same period, Shah said.
However, the number of militants came down to 250 and 127 security personnel lost their lives due to violence between 2014 and 2022.
“Rahul baba (referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) just talks about completely removing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which is mere rhetoric but the BJP government has created an atmosphere in the region leading to the revocation of the Act from 60% of the region where it was earlier applicable,” he said.
“The day is not far when the Act will be removed from the entire region,” Shah said, adding that chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is working under the guidance of the Prime Minister to establish “permanent peace”.
Assam Congress’s working president Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha advised Shah to meet common people “like Rahul Gandhi”. “I would suggest that he reach out to the common people like Rahul Gandhi is doing. That is where he will find actual condition of India, and not in an air-conditioned BJP office,” he said.
Speaking after inaugurating the BJP office, Shah said that the Prime Minister has trebled the budget for the NE region, which has ushered in infrastructural development in all sectors.
There are several projects in the anvil for the state and the foremost is the setting up of a Forensic Science University in the state, he said. The BJP is also committed to providing employment to one lakh youth in the state, he added.
Shah also reiterated the BJP’s poll promise of making Assam flood-free in the next five years, and said that an ambitious flood mitigation plan is being prepared.
He emphasized that the state must take all steps in this regard including enacting a law for the protection of reservoirs and a mechanism for enforcement of the same. “The state must come up with a long-term plan to protect and rejuvenate the wetlands so that holding capacity increases and they can act as storage reservoirs during floods,” he said.
“In the BJP manifesto, we promised an Assam free from terrorism, corruption and flood. We have already achieved the first two. Give us five more years, will make Assam flood free,” he said.
Referring to the new party office in the state capital, Shah said, “BJP offices are not buildings of brick and mortar alone but reflect the dedication, emotion, commitment and hard work of party workers.”
The foundation stone of the party building was laid by Shah as the then party president in 2019.
“Though I was skeptical then whether the ambitious project will be possible, Sarma and other workers had assured me that it will be done. Today, I feel immensely proud to inaugurate it along with party president JP Nadda,” Shah said.
According to the Assam BJP, the state-of-the-art building is the party’s largest office in the region. Spread over 95,000 square feet, the building has six floors.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam CM Sarma, state party head Bhabesh Kalita, Tripura chief minister Manik Saha, and others BJP leaders were also present during the inauguration of the party office.
Purkayastha said the BJP had spent ₹100 crore on its office. “This is a five-star hotel and the party spent over 100 crore on this. We would like to ask the BJP where did the money come from?” he asked.
Shah also participated in an event to destroy 40,000 kilograms of narcotics seized in the region after chairing a meeting of the chief ministers and director generals of police of northeastern states.
Nadda also virtually laid the foundation stones of nine district party offices while Shah pressed the remote to do the same for 102 BJP regional offices in the state.
(With agency inputs)
