Hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for “asking” Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to give an account” of his two-year-old government, BJP president Amit Shah today reminded her that the election in Assam is being held for its Assembly and not Lok Sabha.
“Sonia Gandhi came here for election campaigning and asked Narendra Modi to give an account of the last two years of his government. Soniaji, this is not Lok Sabha election but Assam’s Assembly election,” Mr. Shah said at an election rally here ahead of the second and last phase of polling on April 11.
“When we come here in 2019 (for Lok Sabha polls), we will give an account of all the work we have done and you don’t have to ask us,” he said. “People here gave you 15 years and sent a Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) from here for 10 years. Sonia madam, people of Assam are instead asking you to give an account,” the BJP chief said.
Raking up the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis in Assam, the BJP president claimed that Congress has left the border open and allowed them to enter using them as vote bank.
“These migrants then snatch away the jobs of the youth of Assam... If Tarun Gogoi or Congress wanted, they could have stopped infiltration in the last 50 years of their rule.
“Modi government is in the Centre. Make Sarbananda Sonowal chief minister here and no Bangladeshi infiltrator can enter Assam,” Shah assured.
Expressing confidence that yesterday’s large voter turnout in the first phase of polling in Assam pointed to the ouster of Congress from the state, Mr. Shah appealed to voters of the second phase to give their mandate to BJP-AGP combine for bringing in change in the state and a “corruption-free government.”
“Who will you (Congress) support now? Do you want support from Badruddin Ajmal to be Chief Minister of Assam,” he asked referring to the AIUDF president.
“Congress cannot stop him (Badruddin). Only BJP can. We are ready to sit in opposition for 50 years but not form government here with his support as it will be an insult to the people of Assam,” Mr. Shah asserted.
Claiming that BJP can change Assam’s future to make it the country’s most developed state, he asked the people to “throw away the old (Congress) government and establish a BJP-AGP government here.”
Continuing his attack on Congress, he alleged that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Ajmal fight publicly “but they can be seen uniting together at night in Guwahati.”
