On his ‘Mission North-East’, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday warned China against its expansionist designs, saying no power can snatch Arunachal Pradesh from India. He raised the pitch on rampant unchecked Bangladeshi infiltration into Assam terming it as Congress’ votebank politics and promised welfare policies for tea garden workers in the State even as he showcased former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision for the North-East to exhort the masses in the left’s bastion in Tripura to give him a chance at the top.
Addressing a rally in Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh where he asserted that the State was an integral part of India, Modi asked China to shed its ‘expansionist mindset’. China often claims parts of the Hill State as its own. “I swear in the name of this soil that I will never allow the State to disappear, breakdown and bow down,” Modi said to a thunderous applause from people gathered near the mighty Siang River. He also praised the people of Arunachal Pradesh, who had resisted the Chinese forces during the 1962 war.
Mourning the recent killing of Arunachal Pradesh’s student Nido Tania in New Delhi, he slammed the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre for failing to provide security to the people of the region and failing to develop the region, rich in natural and mineral resources. The Gujarat Chief Minister also raised the issue of hydropower potential in Arunachal Pradesh and said that the State alone can light up the entire country.
“We are aware that the people here are opposing big dams and large power projects. However, the power potential can be tapped by having small power projects,” he said. He also pointed out “Herbal, Horticulture and Handicrafts. These 3Hs can give lot of opportunities to the people here”. In Assam, Modi took up the sensitive issues of infiltration from Bangladesh, the issue of Hindu refugees and the problems of tea communities and urged the voters to give him 60 months’ time compared to 60 years of the Congress to resolve the issues.
“Assam is near Bangladesh and Gujarat is near Pakistan. While the people of Assam are suffering due to Government’s inaction regarding infiltration from Bangladesh, the whole of Pakistan is having problems due to me in Gujarat. Now you have to make a choice whether you want to suffer further due to Bangladesh or not,” Modi said, while addressing another massive rally near Silchar in Assam’s Barak Valley.
Modi assured that if the BJP comes to power, he would end the system of detention camps in Assam. “There are two categories of people who have come to Assam from Bangladesh. One is those who escaped the country due to torture by fundamentalists and the other category is those who came as part of a political conspiracy. However, when there is torture on Hindus across the world, the Hindus have only one country to come home to - India. I suggest these Hindu refugees be settled all over India equally instead of Assam taking the burden alone,” he said, adding “but those, who came to Assam as part of a political conspiracy must go back”.
“The tea communities deserve a lot in Assam as they have been working in tea plantations here for over 150 years and gave an identity to Assam in the form of tea,” he said, while assuring to set up a special board to solve the problems of the tea communities. Modi highlighted the Gujarat model of development in Agartala and attacked the ruling left Front Government in Tripura for failing to usher in development in the North Eastern State, which has been a left bastion for a long time.
“It is only the NDA Government under the leadership of the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee who had taken up projects to connect the entire North East by a road network. The NDA Government had not only taken up development projects but had also asked all departments to allocate 10 per cent of their annual budget to the North East,” he said. “You are all educated people. You see what is happening and analyse them and then take a decision,” said Modi.