Alleges Oppn lacked courage to take bold decisions
Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of divisive politics, corruption in defence procurement and neglect of the Northeast, while addressing BJP workers in Assam. He said the Congress has become “Muslim League-Maoist Congress and is in the process of dividing India."
He alleged that the Congress lacked the courage to take key decisions and had compromised national security during its tenure. Referring to defence purchases under previous regimes, he said they were linked to scams. He also accused the Congress of attempting to “unsettle Assam” and of supporting infiltrators. “Congress never prioritised the nation's security. Because of the negativity of Congress governments, the entire Northeast lived in fear and insecurity. Congress always kept the country at risk. During Congress's tenure, whenever weapons were purchased for the military, it meant a scam worth thousands of crores,” he said.
Modi said the present government was strengthening border infrastructure, including highways, tunnels, bridges and airfields, to enhance national security. He also said, “Congress wants to unsettle Assam once again. Congress wants to return it to infiltrators once again. Be it its top leadership in Delhi or leaders here, they all are trying to save infiltrators. They want to change the original identity of Assam.”He stated that the Northeast was central to the government’s development agenda and described it as “Goddess Ashtalakshmi”.
Citing Union Budget allocations, he said Assam would receive about Rs 50,000 crore as its tax share this year, compared to around Rs 10,000 crore during the Congress regime. He added that over the past 11 years, the state had received more than Rs 5.5 lakh crore from the Centre for various development projects.
Calling upon party workers to intensify preparations for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Modi said, “I say with pride that the greatest qualification of my life, my biggest honour, is that Narendra Modi is a karyakarta of the BJP.” Describing party workers as the life force of the BJP, Modi said that it is their commitment that takes the organisation forward. “Our faith lies in the organisation. We are united by one mantra — Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” he added.
Referring to the 2019 Pulwama attack, he paid tributes to the security personnel who lost their lives and cited Operation Sindoor as an example of India’s response to terror threats. “Today is Pulwama anniversary. I pay my respect to the deceased. India has since shown how to respond. You have seen recently in Op Sindoor. But could you expect it from the Congress which refuses to acknowledge India as a nation?" he said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister inaugurated and flagged off development projects worth over Rs 5,450 crore in Assam. In Guwahati, he inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu across the Brahmaputra, built at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore, and virtually inaugurated the temporary campus of IIM Guwahati and the National Data Centre for the North Eastern Region at Amingaon in Kamrup district.
He also flagged off 225 electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme for Guwahati, Nagpur, Bhavnagar and Chandigarh.
