Silchar, February 20
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday praised the Bharatiya Janata Party government's development record in Assam, asserting that what the Congress party could not achieve in fifty years, the BJP accomplished in just ten.
Addressing a public gathering in Silchar, Shah highlighted the government's infrastructure achievements, noting that in the last five years, Assam witnessed 14 kilometres of road constructed daily, hundreds of bridges completed and four major new bridges inaugurated.
"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, thousands of bridges were built, and four big new bridges," Shah said.
Shah accused the previous Congress governments of leaving Assam's borders vulnerable to infiltration, claiming they undermined the rights of the Assamese people and attempted to alter the state's demographics.
He stated that the BJP, under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has spent the past decade preventing infiltration and reclaiming land.
"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 said.
"The people of Assam initiated the formation of the BJP government ten years ago, and in the first five years, we worked to stop infiltration. 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 has entered the Congress regime," he added.
Shah contrasted the BJP government's investments with the previous Congress regime, noting that while Congress allocated Rs 1.28 lakh crore between 2004 to 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has invested Rs 15 lakh crore in just ten years.
"Under the leadership of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam has become the hub of healthcare in the Northeast. A semiconductor plant worth Rs 27 thousand crores has come up in Assam... During 2004-2014, the Congress government only gave Rs 1 lakh 28 thousand crore for the development of Assam. PM Narendra Modi has given Rs 15 lakh crores for the development of Assam in just ten years... In the coming days, Assam will join the category of developed states, and this Vibrant Village II program is an important part of it," he said.
The Home Minister's remarks come ahead of the upcoming state elections, as he urged voters to recognise the BJP's decade-long development agenda in Assam.
Assam is expected to go for polls in the first half of this year.
- ANI
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