Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said he is confident that the BJP will return to power in Assam under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with the "largest ever mandate"
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GUWAHATI — Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said he is confident that the BJP will return to power in Assam under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with the "largest ever mandate".
Addressing the youth convention of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) here, Shah urged the people to give another mandate to the BJP and assured them that "every infiltrator will be sent out of India".
His comment comes on a day when the Election Commission (EC) announced that the Assam assembly elections would be held on April 9 and the counting on May 4.
"I am confident that the BJP will again form a government in Assam with the largest ever mandate and power of the youths," he said.
In the current 126-member assembly, the ruling BJP's strength is 64, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven, and the BPF has three members.
''The Congress gave shelter to infiltrators, but the BJP government is determined to identify each one of them and drive them out of the country," Shah said.
The EC conducted Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in some states, but the Congress protested against the exercise, he claimed.
"The Congress legalised, formalised and normalised infiltration, but the BJP will remove each illegal immigrant from the electoral rolls. Rahul Babu can rest assured that not only their (infiltrators') names will be removed from the electoral rolls, but they will also be driven out,'' Shah said.
He praised the chief minister for carrying out the eviction of infiltrators who had settled on land encroached by them.
''Sarma has already cleared 1.5 lakh bighas of land encroached by infiltrators, and the day will come soon when there will not be a single one left in the country," he added.
During the Congress rule, Assam was "known for violence", and several youths were killed, Shah claimed.
"The Congress did nothing for the youth, but its leaders were only concerned about the benefits of their families," he added.
Shah alleged that the grand old party believes in ''corruption, polarisation by promoting infiltrators and looking after the interests of their children", and claimed that the BJP's focus has been on "development, driving out infiltrators and ensuring that the interests of the children of poor people are taken care of".
The Union minister continued his tirade against the Congress, accusing the party of defaming the country during the AI Summit in New Delhi when its members staged a protest at the venue by taking off their shirts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi organised such a big and successful summit with heads of 22 countries and CEOs of 80 international companies participating. Several MoUs were signed, but the Congress tried to defame the country, he claimed.
''We are also in politics and have been in opposition, organising protests and dharnas, but there is a place for such demonstrations. The summit was a place where the participants had come to see the developments made in the sector and invest in it, but the Congress used the platform for its politics and made such a vulgar display of its protest," the Union minister said.
Shah asserted that in his bid to "constantly oppose the PM and the BJP, Rahul Gandhi has now started going against the country".
''Political parties often make mistakes, but they apologise, and even the Congress has done so before. Rahul Gandhi has, however, crossed all levels of decency and instead of apologising, he went on to say that those involved in this shameful act were his 'babbar sher' (courageous people)," he said.
Shah asserted that he believes that the people of the country will never accept such a "shameful display of defaming the country".
He also condemned the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha for "drinking tea and eating pakora at the gates of Parliament''.
''Does he not know where to eat breakfast? Parliament is the sacred place of our democracy, and even protesting or holding a dharna on the premises is not a democratic culture. He, however, went two steps ahead...he is defaming India and its democracy across the world," the BJP leader said.
Shah said he hopes that no youth in the country practices in such "activism".
"They are opposed to us and should speak against us. They don't talk in Parliament and run away from the House, but protest at the summit where people from across the world have come to see India's progress and development in this sector," he said.
The Congress has "undermined the talent and potential of the youths", and ''they will not forgive the party", he said.
Shah praised the chief minister for carrying out a clean recruitment drive in the state through which 1,65,000 youths have been given government jobs.
''Before the last elections, we had promised in our manifesto one lakh jobs, but Sarma went ahead and gave 1.65 lakh government jobs to the youths in the state," Shah said.
It is indeed commendable that so many appointments were made, and there was "not a single court case. This shows the clean and transparent way the BJP works'', he added.
Shah highlighted various development initiatives that have taken place in the state during the last 10 years, particularly in the fields of education and employment opportunities.
He pointed out that various industries, particularly the INR 27,000 crore semiconductor plant, will go a long way in providing employment, while IIT, AIIMS, IIM, universities, engineering and medical colleges will also benefit the youths.