Guwahati, Oct. 8 (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that Assam and the Northeastern region marched ahead on the path of peace and development during the eight years of BJP rule under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Seventy years of Congress rule since Independence had pushed the Northeast region to violence and anarchy while during the last eight years, Modi's leadership helped the region join with the mainstream, Shah claimed after inaugurating the party's newly constructed state office in the Assam capital.
''During the Congress regime, there was no peace, development, or growth and even the culture of the region suffered. But, between 2014 and 2022, it is our good fortune that the Prime Minister has taken the region to greater heights of development. Modiji is like a great banyan tree under whose shade, the region is on its path of fulfilling the development goals set by him'', he said.
The Union minister claimed that as a student activist he had come to the state several times during the Assam agitation against illegal infiltrators, and ''on many occasions was severely beaten up under the directives of the then Congress chief minister Hiteswar Saikia'.
The BJP government has established peace in Assam with 9,000 people laying down arms, he said.
The prime minister has tabled the budget for the NE region, which has ushered in infrastructural development in all sectors, the senior BJP leader said.
The number of militants in the state was as high as 8,700 during 2006-14 while violence claimed the lives of 500 security personnel in the same period, Shah said.
However, the number of militants came down to 250 and 127 security personnel lost their lives due to violence between 2014 and 2022.
''Rahul baba (referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) just talks about completely removing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which is mere rhetoric but the BJP government has created an atmosphere in the region leading to the revocation of the Act from 60 per cent of the region where it was earlier applicable'', he said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is working under the guidance of the Prime Minister to establish permanent peace and ''the day is not far when the Act will be removed from the entire region'', Shah said.
There are several projects in the anvil for the state and the foremost is the setting up of a Forensic Science University in the state, he said.
The BJP is also committed to providing employment to one lakh youth in the state, he added.
Referring to the new party office, Shah said, "BJP offices are not buildings of brick and mortar alone but reflect the dedication, emotion, commitment and hard work of party workers".
The foundation stone of the party building was laid by Shah as the then party president in 2019.
''Though I was skeptical then whether the ambitious project will be possible, Sarma and other workers had assured me that it will be done. Today I feel immensely proud to inaugurate it along with party president J P Nadda.
''I have come here today not as a Union minister but as a party worker and I urge all to work according to principles, commitment and sacrifices as paved by the founding fathers of the BJP'', he added.
Earlier, Shah along with BJP president J P Nadda inaugurated the party's new headquarters in the presence of Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state party head Bhabesh Kalita, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, and others.
Nadda also virtually laid the foundation stones of nine district party offices while Shah pressed the remote to do the same for 102 BJP regional offices in the state.