Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party in poll-bound Assam on Wednesday, accusing it of attempting to polarise society and divide the country by supporting infiltrators.
Addressing a rally in Gogamukh, Modi asserted that the Congress had openly declared its intention to introduce a law to protect infiltrators, a move the BJP strongly opposes. "Congress is stabbing the Constitution by attempting to turn the majority community into a minority," he said.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited a tea garden in Dibrugarh district, where he interacted with female workers at the Manohari Tea Estate. The prime minister shared some photographs on social media, in which he was seen plucking tea leaves and placing them in a traditional basket alongside a group of 19 women dressed in traditional white and red-bordered sarees.
“We are immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of each tea garden family. Their perseverance has greatly contributed to Assam’s pride,” Modi said in his post.
The issue of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh has become a key talking point in the Assam elections. The BJP has repeatedly accused Congress of facilitating demographic changes in several districts by supporting infiltrators.
Earlier this week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning in the state, claimed that the BJP-led government in Assam had successfully halted infiltration but required more time to expel those who had already entered the country.
"We couldn’t finish the drive against infiltrators in 10 years, but we stopped them from entering. No one can cross the border now because the Himanta Biswa Sarma government has sealed it. But this is just the first step—we now need to drive out those who have already infiltrated,” Shah said.
The home minister also alleged that at least nine districts in Assam became Muslim-majority due to Congress’s decision to allow infiltrators, whom they used as vote banks.
