Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Opposition Congress of trying to protect infiltrators, asserting that his government has taken concrete steps to stop illegal immigration.
Addressing a rally after inaugurating the new terminal building of the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Modi said he was correcting the “mistakes” committed by the Congress over the last six to seven decades. He also claimed that the Congress had neglected the development of the Northeast during its rule.
“The development of Assam and the Northeast was not even on the agenda of Congress governments. People in Congress governments used to say, ‘Who even goes to Assam and the Northeast?’ Their mindset was that Assam and the Northeast did not need modern airports, better railways, or highways. Because of this very thinking, Congress neglected the entire region for decades. The mistakes that Congress kept making for decades, Modi is correcting them one by one,” the Prime Minister said.
Modi also criticised the grand old party over its stance on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, alleging that the Opposition had adopted “anti-national agendas”.
“The Election Commission started the SIR to ensure infiltrators are kept out of the electoral process, but ‘deshdrohis’ are trying to protect them,” he said.
He added, “The Central Government has taken strict steps to stop infiltration. Along with deporting illegal infiltrators, their identification is also being carried out. However, Congress has adopted anti-national agendas. Even the Supreme Court has spoken about removing infiltrators, yet their lawyers argue in court in favour of allowing them to stay.”
Modi further alleged that the Congress had committed another “grave wrong” by attempting to erase the very identity of the region.
“The roots of this wrongdoing go back to the period before Independence. At a time when the Muslim League and the British were preparing the ground for the partition of India, there was also a plan to make Assam a part of East Pakistan. Congress was moving towards becoming part of that conspiracy. It was then that Bordoloi ji stood up against his own party and saved Assam from being separated from the nation,” he said.
Modi also alleged that violence continued to grow unchecked in the Northeast during Congress rule.
“During Congress governments, an era of violence continued unchecked. In the Northeast, places that once witnessed violence and bloodshed are today seeing digital connectivity. In the times to come, these very districts will also become industrial corridors. A new sense of confidence has emerged about the Northeast, and we must strengthen it further,” he said.
The Prime Minister, however, did not mention the violence in Manipur during his own tenure. The northeastern state plunged into unprecedented unrest following ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities.