PM attacks Congress for protecting infiltrators
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of protecting infiltrators, asserting that the BJP Government was correcting decades-old mistakes and driving development in the region. Addressing a public rally after inaugurating a new terminal at the Guwahati airport, PM said the Election Commission of India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was aimed at keeping infiltrators out of the democratic process. Attacking Congress, Modi said that deshdrohis (traitors) were trying to shield them. “The Centre is taking strict steps to stop infiltration,” said Modi at the rally attended by thousands of people.
“The Congress gave protection to infiltrators who grabbed forests and land, threatening the security and identity of Assam. The BJP Government has been correcting mistakes the Congress kept making for decades in the Northeast,” he said, adding, “Ensure infiltrators are kept out of the electoral process. But ‘deshdrohis’ were trying to protect them.” The Prime Minister asserted that the development of Assam and the Northeast was never part of the Congress agenda. He alleged that infiltrators were allowed to grab forests and land in the State, threatening its security and identity. Modi said the BJP Government was now correcting the mistakes that, according to him, the Congress had made for decades in the region.Modi said that prior to Independence, when the Muslim League and the British were preparing the ground for India’s Partition, a conspiracy was hatched to make Assam a part of East Pakistan.
“Congress was going to be part of this conspiracy. It was Gopinath Bardoloi who stood against his own party, opposed this plot to destroy Assam’s identity, and saved Assam from being separated from the country,” he claimed. The PM said the BJP rises above party lines to honour every patriot, and the Vajpayee Government conferred Bardoloi with Bharat Ratna.Narrating the details of the BJP’s governance model, Modi said development under the party’s “double-engine Government” was flowing uninterrupted in Assam, comparing it to the mighty Brahmaputra River. He said his attachment to Assam inspired him and added that the State and the entire Northeast were emerging as gateways to India’s development. “Every State, each region of the country has an important role to play in the mission of a developed India,” he said.
“The development of Assam is not only a necessity but also a responsibility and an accountability for me. In the past 11 years, development projects worth lakhs of crores of rupees have been initiated in Assam and the Northeast,” he added. Modi said Assam is playing the role of a bridge, connecting India with ASEAN countries, and the state will become an engine of developed India in many sectors. He said that Assam’s development could be achieved because the government is safeguarding the identity and culture of the region. Later in the evening, PM Modi led a massive roadshow in Guwahati on the first day of his two-day visit to Assam. The roadshow began outside the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex in Sarusajai on National Highway 27 and concluded at the BJP’s state headquarters near Basistha Chariali.
governor bose launches projects
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday unveiled national highway projects worth INR3,200 crore in West Bengal with an aim to boost economic activities and tourism in the State. Bose officially launched the projects from Netaji Park in the Taherpur area of Nadia district instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was initially supposed to unveil the development projects from the ground, but whose helicopter failed to land in the area on account of insufficient visibility due to dense fog over the region. Modi tendered his apology for his inability to remain on the dais in person on account of inclement weather. The PM was forced to return to the Kolkata airport from where he later addressed the crowd in a virtual audio mode.
