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Sivasagar (Assam), Feb. 15 (PTI): Accusing the BJP and RSS of dividing Assam, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that his party will protect every principle of the Assam Accord and will never implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act if voted to power in the state.
Addressing his first public rally in Assam ahead of the assembly elections due in March-April, Gandhi said that the state needs its “own chief minister” who will listen to the voice of the people and not one who listens only to Nagpur and Delhi.
“The Assam Accord has brought peace and it is the protector of the state. I and my party workers will protect each principle of the Accord. There will not be a single deviation from it,” he said.
Gandhi said illegal immigration is an issue in Assam and exuded confidence that the people of the state have the capability to resolve the issue through dialogue.
Alleging that BJP and RSS are trying to divide the state on the issue of Assam Accord, he said, “If Assam is divided, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah will not be affected, but the people of Assam and the rest of India will be affected.”
Talking about the controversial CAA, the senior Congress leader said that if his party comes to power in the state, the law will not be implemented under any circumstance.
All party leaders, including Gandhi, were seen wearing ‘Gamocha’ (Assamese scarf), where symbolically the CAA word was crossed, giving a message against the controversial law.
Gandhi said Assam needs a chief minister from their “own people” who will listen to their issues and try to resolve them.
“Remote control can operate a TV but not a CM. The current CM listens to Nagpur and Delhi. If Assam gets a CM like this again, it will not benefit the people. The youths need a CM who will give jobs to them,” he said.
Taking a dig at the prime minister, the Union home minister and “businessmen close to them”, Gandhi said, “I have devised a new slogan for Assam -- Hum do, humare do; Assam ke liye humare aur do, aur sab kuch loot lo.”
He alleged that natural resources and PSUs in the state are being “sold off” to two leading businessmen of the country.
Gandhi also accused the Modi government of “looting” public money during the Covid-19 pandemic and waiving huge amounts of loans of his “two businessmen friends”.
He said that the Congress government under the leadership of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi had brought peace to Assam by ending the era of violence.
The Assam Accord provides for the detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who have entered the country after 1971 and living in the state, irrespective of their religion.
Under the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship.
Anti-CAA protesters in the state say that the law violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.
Rahul Gandhi also claimed that the three new central farm laws will help corporates and rich people grab agribusiness worth INR 80 lakh crore in India.
Addressing an impressive public gathering in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar, Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said nothing about the farmers’ interests in the Parliament despite the fact that they have been agitating for nearly three months now.
“The BJP-led central government has already ruined the Indian economy and the people across the country by introducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, and now it is trying to further dent the rural economy by these three laws,” he said.
Kick-starting the party’s campaign for the 2021 Assembly elections in Assam, the Congress leader said that India should not be “remote-controlled” from Nagpur.
“Every asset of the country is being sold for the interest of very few people,” he alleged.
He claimed that only INR 167 was given to tea garden workers (as wages) but the entire tea garden was being handed over to Gujarat businessmen. “If the Congress returns to power, we will give INR 365 as daily wages to tea garden workers.”