Silchar: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday mounted a high-voltage final campaign push for BJP in Assam’s Barak Valley, declaring that every infiltrator in the state had been identified and would be deported within five years if the party returned to power.Addressing rallies in Patharkandi, Hailakandi and Silchar on the last day of campaigning for 13 assembly constituencies going to the polls on April 9, Shah cast the election as a decisive contest over illegal immigration.He linked Assam’s security agenda to the upcoming West Bengal elections, saying a BJP govt in Kolkata would allow Assam, Tripura and West Bengal to act in coordination to eliminate infiltration from the region. West Bengal votes on April 19 and 23.Shah accused Congress of settling “ghuspetias” in Assam for political benefit and said the party’s opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, along with its role in introducing the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, showed its intent to shield illegal immigrants.Praising CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Shah said the Assam govt has reclaimed 1.5 lakh bighas of land from the “clutches of infiltrators” and promised that the drive would intensify.Alongside the immigration plank, Shah made a series of welfare and development promises. He said Assam would be made “flood-free” within five years and pledged to raise the daily wages of tea workers in the Barak Valley from Rs 258 to Rs 500.Shah also sharpened his attack on the Congress leadership. He criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his recent “snake” analogy for BJP-RSS, calling it against democratic norms. He described Rahul Gandhi’s leadership as “dangerous” for the country and said after the election results, a “telescope” would be needed to find Congress in Assam.Projecting the BJP’s decade in power as transformative, Shah said Assam had moved from insurgency and fear to infrastructure growth and economic opportunity. He said peace accords and action against infiltration had set the stage for a “record-breaking mandate” and a fully developed Assam.
