Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to extend their cooperation to ensure ratification of the land swap agreement between India and Bangladesh, during the current session of Parliament.
In a statement issued here, he said: “The land swap agreement will help solve the long-pending boundary issues with Bangladesh once and for all. It will also lead to increase in volume of trade and commerce.”
The Chief Minister alleged that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been opposing the ratification without going into the facts. They had been creating a hullabaloo with an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Both the AGP and the BJP have reiterated that they would oppose the Constitution Amendment Bill on the land agreement in the winter session.
“It’s all hogwash” Mr. Gogoi said: “Of the total 665 acres under adverse possession of Bangladesh, Assam will regain 397.5 acres, while Bangladesh will get 267.5 acres. The moot question is ‘how is Assam going to lose a single inch of land to Bangladesh as made out to be by the AGP and the BJP?’ It’s all hogwash and misinformation campaign,” he said, adding that both parties did not do anything worthwhile on that front while the AGP was in power in the State and the BJP at the Centre.
The Chief Minister further said the land swap agreement would ensure demarcation and erection of fencing on the unfenced 2.86-km stretch in the Lathitilla-Dumabari sector in Karimganj district along the border.
