Is Amit Shah scared of new regional parties ahead of Assam assembly polls?

BARDOWA (NAGAON): Union home minister Amit Shah today said the new regional parties in Assam have been floated by people who tend to forget that it was the Congress that was responsible for hundreds of deaths during the historic Assam Agitation and accused the parties of only helping the Congress to defeat the BJP.

Addressing an election-oriented rally during the foundation laying ceremony of setting up a centre of art and culture at Batadrava Than (monastery), Shah said the people of Assam have seen what the BJP government has brought to Assam in five years compared to what the state got during Congress regime of seven decades, “and thus, I am sure the BJP will come back to power with a two-third majority this time”.

“These are parties who are working for the Congress that is taking the help of Badruddin Ajmal (All India United Democratic Front chief) to wrest power from the BJP. Do you remember the rhino poaching of Congress times? Can you expect the world famous one-horn rhino will survive if the Congress comes back to power with the help of Ajmal? So, I am sure the people of Assam will vote BJP back to power with a two-third majority,” Shah said.

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He also appreciated the Sarbananda Sonowal government for eviction of illegal settlers from Kaziranga National Park as well as from Batadrava Than here.

Stating that the new regional parties (Assam Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal) were illegitimately wearing the regionalists tag, the BJP strongman said: “The real regionalists of are the Asom Gana Parishad which is with us safeguarding the interests of Assam in every step.”

Shah’s attack on the new political parties has all but proved AJP general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan’s claim the other day that the top two BJP leaders of the country were freaquenting Assam because the ruling party has become jittery of the AJP’s rapid rise in the state.

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Lauding the Assam government for taking initiatives to preserve and promote the cult of Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhabdeva, Shah said: “Those who are not Indians can never be Assamese.”

Shah also stated that “Assam that was known for agitations, weapons and violence is now known for development, industrial investment, education and tourism.”

“But there more to come. It’s just the first step towards a new era of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has endeavoured to make Assam the engine of progress for the Northeast,” he added.

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Earlier participating in the Pran Pratistha Mahotsav of Maha Mritunjay Temple, the tallest Shiva linga temple of the country at Puranigudam in Nagaon district, Shah appealed to the people to give the BJP one more term of five more years to solve the flood and influx problems of Assam.

Talking to newspersons there, Shah, who has been a frequent visitor to Assam these days, said: “After our government made Assam violence-free in the last seven years, we have to make Assam free from floods and infiltration.”

Mitigating perennial flood and erosion problem and sealing the Indo-Bangla border to prevent any further influx were the BJP’s pre-poll promise ahead of the Assam assembly elections in 2016. Both the Centre and the state government have failed miserably in addressing any of the issues.

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The opposition parties have been criticising Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent visits to the state over the past couple of months, saying the people of the state wanted them by their side during the devastating floods and the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 protests where five youths were shot dead.

On the other hand, Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai recently stated that India was still witnessing massive infiltration from Bangladesh. He said the border guards have apprehended 1045 infiltrators along the India-Bangladesh over the past two years.