Soon after BJP leaders intensified their anti-foreigner rhetoric for the second phase of polling, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi launched his counter-offensive, accusing the BJP and the RSS of being more concerned about “Bharat”.
In an obvious attempt to give a spin to the outsiders vs insiders issue, Mr Gogoi told reporters, “It’s an issue for the RSS. The Congress’ concern is the people of the country. I work for all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. My job is to take all the communities in society towards development and security.”
With the BJP accusing him of patronising infiltrators, Mr Gogoi said, “If we have been protecting foreigners, why has the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi not issued a showcause notice to the state ”
“If Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can prove that I have protected and given shelter to even a single illegal infiltrator from Bangladesh, I will quit politics. If they can’t, let them quit too,” dared Mr Gogoi.
Mr Gogoi said, “Why does the BJP always talk about infiltration only before the polls and then remains silent Himanta Biswa Sarma was the Assam Accord implementation minister in my government. Does that not imply that he gave them protection ” asked Mr Gogoi, accusing the BJP-led alliance of misleading people.
