GUWAHATI, March 15: BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda highlighted the progress under the “double-engine” governments at the Centre and in Assam in the past five years, while accusing the Congress government of “failing” to achieve what the saffron party has achieved in the past term.
Nadda was in Assam on Monday to campaign for party candidates and address public rallies in the state ahead of the Assembly elections.
Referring to the development push of the National Democratic Alliance over the past few years, he said Assam has seen substantial progress in regard to connectivity and health infrastructure.
“Be it roads (national highways), bridges, railway tracks or medical infrastructure, airports, et al, the BJP led government has achieved a lot in the past five years,” the BJP leader said at a poll rally in Sootea in central Assam.
“The Bogibeel Bridge, for instance, has been fast-tracked and set up under BJP rule after years of the Rs 6000-crore project being caught in a tangle under Congress tenures. There is progress in regard to the construction of the Dhubri-Phulbari bridge as well…Such progress was not seen in 60 years of Congress rule…but the BJP-led government in Assam supported by the BJP-led government at the Centre has made such progress possible in a matter of months,” Nadda said.
He also referred to the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) near Guwahati and several medical colleges set up across the state.
Reiterating what Union home minister Amit Shah said at a rally in Margherita on Sunday, Nadda said that the BJP-led government would make Assam flood free in the next five years.
“We are doing a satellite survey and planning to divert the flood water to big tanks and water bodies…we will make the state flood free and also ensure that pisciculture is promoted in the water bodies for further development,” he said.
“Modi ji has enhanced the funds for flood mitigation in Assam by four times,” Nadda added.
He further said that the BJP-led government has ushered in peace in the Bodo belt by bringing an end to militancy through the historic peace agreement with Bodo militant outfits; besides about 3000 cadres to the mainstream.
“Modi ji has spent Rs 1500 crore for the peace initiatives…however during Congress rule, thousands of people and security personnel had died in strife-torn Bodoland,” he said.
Nadda further referred to the funds allocated for Assam’s development in the Union Budget, saying that Rs 53,000 crore has been allocated for the state in the Budget, with a substantial portion for building national highways in the state.
He further took a dig at the Congress for allying with the Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front for the upcoming polls, while also taking potshots at the Grand Old party’s “5 Guarantees, by saying that “I can give one guarantee that the Congress will bring if at all it comes to power…which is ghotala (scams).”