Amit Shah pledges to make Assam and NE biggest contributors to India's GDP

GUWAHATI:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid his third visit to election-bound Assam this year, iterating the Narendra Modi-led government’s commitment to make Assam not just “flood free” but a leading state in the country, if the ruling BJP is voted to power again for the next five years.

Shah also said that the BJP government would strive to make Northeast and Assam the biggest contributors to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Union leader took direct digs at the Grand Alliance of Congress and AIUDF, asking the people at the rally, “can a party that takes the side of the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF make Assam influx-free….but BJP has laid the base for an infiltration-free, andolan free, rhino-poaching free, and of course, violence-free Assam (by curbing militancy and bring outfits to the mainstream).”

“Besides and more importantly, Modi Ji has visited Northeast 35 times since taking over as Prime Minister, which bears testimony to his interest to work for the region’s peace and development,” he added.

Addressing a massive rally at Borduwa to lay the foundation for the Rs 180-crore development project at Batadrava Than, the birthplace of Vaishnavite social and religious reformer Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev – Shah further slammed the Opposition Congress, saying “The BJP did in the past seven years what the Congress couldn’t in as many as 70 years.”

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“Congress, for that matter, never did anything for taking Srimanta Sankardev’s teachings and ideals forward. It is surprising that no other leader in the previous government came to the great saint’s birthplace in the past 15 years. Congress did not think about a memorial here,” he said.

“On the contrary, several youths were shot during the Congress tenure in the past, for which they resorted to andolan (strike),” Shah added.

The Batadrava development project, to be set up on the lines of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, will be implemented in 18 months, claimed Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The Union minister also took another dig, saying “Congress workers are only seen when the elections come.”

“You (the people/electorate of Assam) have given BJP the mandate five years…and now we have taken this major initiative to take the saint’s message for generations to reflect and take inspiration from. The comprehensive project will have a state-of-the-art cultural centre, guest house, auditorium, museum, toy train for kids, statues, information centre, etc,” Shah said.

Reflecting on the party’s protection of indigenous identity, language and culture, the BJP stalwart said Mahapurush Sankardev had united the people of the state through the Neo-Vaishnavite movement and the Bhakti Andolan.

“This is the very place where the neo-Vaishnavite movement, led by Mahapurush Sankardev, started and united the people of the state. Srimanta Sankardev contributed to India’s unity, a fact that Mahatma Gandhi too had observed (during the freedom movement),” he said.

Shah also urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to enhance the number of over-50-year-old namghars (a Vaishnavite worship centre) receiving financial aid (for renovation) from 8000-odd to as many as 25000 namghars.

The Union Home Minister further sought to strike an emotional chord with the people, saying the BJP government has recognised the achievements of the Bard of Brahmaputra and music maestro Bhupen Hazarika with the prestigious Bharat Ratna, besides honouring and acknowledging the contributions of the former three-time chief minister and Congress stalwart Tarun Gogoi posthumously with the Padma Bhushan this year.

Ending his speech by promising Assam, where youths do not have to go outside for jobs, Shah said, “We are looking to make the state one of the formidable states of the country. Along with the regional AGP government, BJP (the alliance) will win the polls by a two-thirds majority,” he asserted.

Earlier, he attended the Maha Mrityunjay yajna at a Shiva temple having the 'Asia's tallest' Shiv ling, where the BJP stalwart expressed his good fortune to have been able to pay obeisance at the holy site.

(Edited by Laxmi Chyrmang)