Cong backs infiltrators for votes: PM in Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of engaging in “anti-national” activities and helping illegal Bangladeshi immigrants settle in Assam due to appeasement politics.

- Utpal Parashar

Addressing a rally after unveiling a ₹10,601-crore fertiliser plant at Namrup in Dibrugarh, Modi said the Congress was only interested in grabbing power, accusing the party of neglecting agricultural infrastructure and ignoring farmers’ demands.

“They [Congress] are hungry for power. That's why they like illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh... We have to protect Assam from this poison of appeasement,” he said. Before arriving in Dibrugarh, Modi visited the Swahid Smarak Kshetra, a memorial to the 860 people who lost their lives during the 1979-85 Assam agitation against illegal infiltrators, in Guwahati.

Modi added that the Opposition is not concerned with safeguarding the identity and pride of the Assamese people, which is why it opposes the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “The Congress is indulging in anti-national activities. They want illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to settle in Assam... that is why Congress is opposing the revision of voter lists,” he said.

Assam is slated to go to polls next year, and the issue of alleged illegal infiltration is expected to be a major poll plank. SIR of voter rolls has become a major political flashpoint across the states. While the Election Commission and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have defended SIR as necessary to ensure the sanctity of elections, the Opposition has criticised it as an attempt to disenfranchise marginalised communities.