GUWAHATI: Union home minister Amit Shah visited Assam on Thursday, his third tour of the election-bound state this year, promising to make Assam “free from floods and influx in the next five years” – two main issues afflicting the state – while appealing to the electorate to once again give their mandate in the saffron party’s favour.
Shah also promised that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government would strive to make Northeast and Assam the biggest contributors to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Union leader took direct digs at the ‘Grand Alliance of Congress and AIUDF”, while questioning the credibility of Congress for siding with the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF.
“Can a party that takes the side of the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF, and believes in vote-bank politics make Assam influx-free,” he asked.
“On the other hand, BJP has laid the base for an infiltration-free, andolan-free, rhino-poaching free, and of course, violence-free Assam (by curbing militancy and bringing outfits to the mainstream),” Shah said.
“Besides, and more importantly, Modi ji has visited Northeast 35 times since taking over as Prime Minister, which bears testimony to his interest to work for the region’s peace and development,” he added.
Addressing a massive rally at Borduwa to lay the foundation for the Rs 180-crore development project at Batadrava Than, the birthplace of Vaishnavite social and religious reformer Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev – Shah further slammed the Opposition Congress, saying that “The BJP did in the past seven years what the Congress couldn’t in as many as 70 years.”
“Congress, for that matter, never did anything for taking Srimanta Sankardev’s teachings and ideals forward. It is surprising that no other leader in the previous government came to the great saint’s birthplace in the past 15 years. Congress did not think about a memorial here,” he said.
“On the contrary, young people were shot during the Congress tenures of the past, for which they resorted to andolan (strikes),” Shah added.
The Assam government has set a target of 18 months to complete the Batadrava development project.
The Union minister did not stop there, taking further digs at the Opposition, saying “Congress workers are only seen when the elections come.”
“You (the people/electorate of Assam) have given BJP the mandate five years…and now we have taken this major initiative to take the saint’s message for generations to reflect and take inspiration from. The comprehensive project will have a state-of-the-art cultural centre, guest house, auditorium, museum, toy train for kids, statues, information centre, etc,” Shah said.
Reflecting on the party’s protection of indigenous identity, language and culture, the BJP stalwart said Mahapurush Sankardev had united the people of the state through the Neo-Vaishnavite movement and the Bhakti Andolan.
“This is the very place where the neo-Vaishnavite movement, led by Mahapurush Sankardev, started and united the people of the state. Srimanta Sankardev contributed to India’s unity, a fact that Mahatma Gandhi too had observed (during the freedom movement),” he said.
Shah also urged chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to enhance the number of over-50-year-old namghars (a Vaishnavite worship centre) receiving financial aid (for renovation) from 8000-odd to as many as 25000 namghars.
The Union home minister further sought to strike an emotional chord with the people, saying the BJP government has recognised the achievements of music maestro Bhupen Hazarika with the prestigious Bharat Ratna, besides honouring and acknowledging the contributions of former three-time chief minister and Congress stalwart Tarun Gogoi posthumously with the Padma Bhushan this year.
Promising to make Assam a state where youths get jobs; Shah said that “we are looking to make the state one of the formidable states of the country”.
“The BJP-AGP alliance will win the polls by two-thirds majority,” he asserted, towards the end of his speech.
Shah, who landed at the LGBI Airport in the wee hours of Thursday, also paid a visit to the Maha Mrityunjay Temple at Puranigudam in Nagaon district, having the ‘Asia’s tallest’ Shiv ling, where he offered his prayers at the Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav.