Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the football-loving people of Assam have already shown Congress-led ‘Mahajot’ or grand alliance the ‘red card’ in the first two phases of polling.
Addressing a rally for candidates of BJP’s ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in western Assam’s Kokrajhar, the Prime Minister also slammed Congress for trying to make ‘tala chabi (lock and key)’ – symbol of perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front – the identity of Assam.
“All of India knows the people of Assam love football. As on the soccer field, the people of Assam have already shown the ‘mahajooth’ (great lie) of ‘Mahajot’ the red card in the first phase of voting and during the second phase today,” Mr. Modi said.
The first phase of voting on March 27 for 47 of Assam’s 126 Assembly seats recorded a turnout of 79.97%. The second phase covering 39 seats saw 48.26% voting till 1 p.m. on Thursday.
The Prime Minister claimed Congress was never serious about containing violence and extremism in Assam and let things fester. The grand old party also patronised infiltration, encroachment of land belonging to satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) and prime wildlife habitats.
“Congress has never worked for peace and development of Assam because of its agenda of destruction. You have a choice between its ‘mahajhooth’ guarantees and the double engine development of NDA, which gave the Bodoland Territorial Council during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) agreement a year ago,” Mr. Modi said.
He also accused the Congress of keeping various regions of Assam divided and in perpetual unrest. “They fuelled divisions between hills and plains, between Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys while NDA has united them in development,” he said.
The Prime Minister criticised Congress for neglecting the tea garden workers and ignoring the issues of six communities — Adivasi, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Maran, Matak and Tai-Ahom — seeking Scheduled Tribe. “We have taken steps such as providing land deeds to 3.35 lakh people and development councils for ethnic groups,” he said.
“The people of Bodoland specifically cannot forget how Congress turned a blind eye to their problems as guns, bombs, bandhs and blockades ravaged their region. The Bodo Accord we signed (January 2020) has given a new hope and the double engine of progress has started running,” Mr. Modi said, adding the NDA’s mantra for BTC was peace, progress and protection (of language and culture).
The Prime Minister also said the Centre was working on including Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution besides setting up a Cultural Complex and Centre of Excellence in the name of Upendra Nath Brahma considered the father of the Bodoland movement.
“You showed your trust in the UPPL-BJP in the BTR elections (December 2020). I can envisage bigger support from you in the Assembly election. You cannot squander your vote on Congress and ‘Mahajot’ since they are interested only in filling their pockets and destroying Assam,” he said.
The UPPL’s Lawrence Islary and Manaranjan Brahma are contesting the Kokrajhar East and Kokrajhar West seats against Minister Pramila Rani Brahma and Rabiram Narzary of the Bodoland People’s Front respectively. Manaranjan Brahma is the richest candidate in Assam this time, his declared assets being ₹268 crore.
