Bangladesh influx grabbing jobs of locals, says Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah alleged here on Wednesday that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were grabbing the jobs of locals in Assam and said if his party was voted to power it would stop these immigrants from entering the state. Mr Shah, who was in Kokrajhar to attend the 13th anniversary of the Bodoland accord signed during the NDA regime in 2003, said, “The process of detecting and deporting illegal immigrants has started.” Mr Shah, who also announced the BJP’s electoral alliance with the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) for the 2016 Assembly polls, said the BPF chief has sought a '1,000 crore package for the development of Bodoland Territorial Council. “I can assure that the BJP government will give much more than what BPF chief Hagrama Mohiliary has asked for,” said Mr Shah. Launching a frontal attack on the ruling Congress party, he said, “In the last 15 years development has taken a back seat in Assam. Despite being endowed with natural and human resources Assam remains a backward state.”

Pointing out that Assam was among the five richest states of the country when it got independence, Mr Shah regretted that the Congress, which ruled the state for the majority of this time, has reduced the state to among the five poorest in the country. Mr Shah also reminded that in 1962 then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had abandoned Assam in the wake of the attack from China. “It was due to our soldiers that Assam is still part of India,” he said.

Referring to how 42 per cent of the state’s population doesn’t have safe drinking water and more than one crore people in Assam are surviving below the poverty line, Mr Shah also slammed the ruling Congress for not doing anything to solve the problem of unemployment.

“When Congress came to power in 2001 there were nine lakh unemployed youth in the state. In 2016 it has grown to 23 lakh,” said Mr Shah, asking the people to give a chance to the BJP-BPF to rule the state.

Mr Shah claimed that states ruled by BJP, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, have 24x7 electricity, roads, hospitals and drinking water. “Assam has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios. The state has also recorded 19,000 cases of crime against women which is also the highest in the country,” said the BJP president who also addressed a mammoth public rally of BJP workers in central Assam’s Nagaon district.

The BJP president said the Gogoi government is yet to submit completion certificates of a majority of Central government schemes. “Even the UPA government had stopped funds in some projects as the state did not submit the utilisation certificates. There must be a government here which can implement the schemes of the Centre, not quarrel with the Centre,” he said.