SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR: In his two public meetings on Friday – one at Patharkandi and the other at Silchar in the Barak Valley – Union Home Minister Amit Shah sharply criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and also flayed the Congress for running the party "without any ideology".
Referring to the alliance with Badaruddin Ajmal's AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front), Shah said that it has been done just for political survival of both the entitites. "Can the AIUDF become the symbol of Assam?" he asked. And, the crowd roared back, "No!"
Shah further said, " If you vote for the Congress, it will clear the passage for Badaruddin Ajmal to the seat of power." The crowd again replied, "No!"
Feeling the pulse and mood of the masses, Shah knew that it was the "development card" that was the best weapon to outwit and outdo the Congress-AIUDF alliance. Quite naturally, his diatribe was against "the Congress for its decades of misrule in Assam".
Shah questioned Rahul Gandhi with the poser, "What are the achievements of the Congress party starting from Nehru to the last days of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister?" Then, Shah asked him to "compare those achievements, if any, with what Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma did for Assam in the last five years."
The Union Home Minister further said that a BJP worker can sit with Rahul Gandhi to present a comparative analysis of the achievements of the 40-year Congress regime and the last five years government of the BJP -led alliance in the State.
Pointing to the achievements of the BJP-led alliance in Assam during the last five years, Amit Shah referred to the rapid socio-economic changes for better living. Roads, highways, bridges, waterways, health services, electricity and other facilities reaching the villagers in both the valleys.
He further said, "The people in the rural areas and tribal communities can now reap the fruits of development which they hardly thought of, five years back. The tea garden workers, poor and downtrodden now have houses to live and also toilets for hygienic living. The Congress only indulges in hyperbolic rigmarole."
Amit Shah cautioned, "Return of the Congress-AIUDF alliance will mean encouraging infiltration from the other side of the border and also militancy."
He said, "The BJP not only identified the infiltrators but also pushed them back," adding, "Influx of illegal migrants will only take away the jobs of the youths of Assam. It is the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government which put a total hold on infiltrators. Return of the Congress-AIUDF alliance means giving license to the illegal migrants and distortion of the demographic structure of the State."
The Union Home Minister further said, "The Congress is always confused over crucial issues. It opposes the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in the Brahmaputra Valley while remaining silent on this issue in the Barak Valley.
"But, the BJP is clear and vocal on issues of national importance and unlike the Congress, it has no hidden agenda."
He also said, "There is no charge of allegation against the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government."
Shah also spoke of the development projects undertaken by the BJP-led government in the Barak Valley for improving its economy and better governance.
Shah also appealed to the voters to vote for the double-engine government of Sarbananda Sonowal.
He participated in the poll campaign for BJP's candidate for Patharkandi — Krishendu Paul, and also party's candidate for Silchar — Deepayan Chakraborty.