Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged the people of Assam to vote in the upcoming elections with a focus on the state’s future. Shah said voters should not see their vote as merely re-electing Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, but as a step towards making Assam “free of infiltrators” and ensuring peace and development.
He said that while the state had witnessed violence, shootings, and bomb blasts during Congress rule, leading to the deaths of many youths, the BJP has made Assam “terrorism-free” over the past 10 years.
Addressing a gathering, Assam’s Sonitpur Home Minister Shah said, “Elections are scheduled to be held in Assam in 11 days, on the 9th. Don’t think you will vote to make Himanta Biswa Sarma Chief Minister once again. You must vote to make Assam free of infiltrators. You must vote to create a peaceful and developed Assam. On one hand, in this election, there is the BJP, which, in 10 years, has made Assam terrorism-free. This is the same Assam where, under Congress rule, there were shootings and bomb blasts, and hundreds of young people were killed. In Assam, under the leadership of PM Modi, in the last 10 years, we have done the work of establishing peace in Assam by making many agreements and getting 10 thousand youths to give up their weapons.”
Addressing the issue of illegal infiltration and its impact on Assam, Home Minister Shah said, “In these ten years, we have stopped the infiltrators; no infiltrator can enter Assam now… These infiltrators are taking jobs from our young people in Assam… they have no rights on this land. For the third time, make a government of lotus…”
Outlining the government’s future plans on the issue, he said “In five years, we will selectively remove the infiltrators from Assam… Our BJP government has liberated 1 lakh 25 thousand acres of land from the infiltrators. We have broken their encroachment.”
Criticising the Congress over its past policies, Amit Shah said,”The Congress government passed the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) (IMDT) Act, the aim of which was to encourage infiltrators into Assam. I promise you once again that we will remove infiltrators.”
Targeting opposition leaders over their stance on Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Shah said,”SIR is happening across the nation, but Rahul Gandhi and his company are opposing it. If Gaurav Gogoi come here, then ask him why he is opposing the SIR… Gaurav Gogoi should clear this to the people of Assam if he is with the infiltrators or against them.”
Voting for the Assam Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, while the counting of votes and declaration of results are scheduled for May 4.
The main contest in the upcoming election is expected to be between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), and an opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress (INC), which includes several parties such as Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), and the CPI(M).
Other key players in the election include the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which is contesting independently after previously being part of the opposition bloc, and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is returning to the Assam elections after a 15-year gap with a focus on the tea tribe community.
