PM Modi Takes Aim at Congress, Vows to Correct Decades of Neglect in Northeast
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing the party of ignoring Assam and the northeast for decades. Speaking at a public meeting in Guwahati, Modi claimed that Congress governments had neglected the region for six to seven decades, but his own government was now working to correct these mistakes. Modi pointed to several key achievements, including the provision of thousands of jobs based on merit, rather than recommendations or bribes. He also accused the Congress of encouraging illegal immigration from Bangladesh, which had led to demographic changes and large-scale encroachments on government lands and forests, threatening the indigenous Assamese population. The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of unity among the people of Assam in the face of these threats, citing the sacrifices made by Gopinath Bardoloi, a former Assam chief minister who had fought to keep the state within India. Outside the new Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International (LGBI) airport terminal, which Modi inaugurated on Saturday, he unveiled a statue of Bardoloi and recollected his efforts to ensure Assam's independence. The new terminal, built at a cost of ₹6,000 crores, features extensive use of bamboo and showcases Assam's natural beauty and culture. It will have a terminal area of 140,000 square metres and can accommodate 13.1 million passengers per year, a significant increase from the present capacity of 6.5 million. However, the Congress has criticized Modi's report card in sectors of development and unemployment in Assam and the northeast, pointing to the shutdown of several government-run industries, including paper mills in Jagiroad and Cachar. Modi will continue his engagements in Assam on Sunday, interacting with BJP office-bearers and students, and laying the foundation stone of an ammonia-urea-fertiliser plant at Namrup in Dibrugarh district, which is expected to meet the fertiliser requirements of Assam and neighbouring states and reduce import dependence.
