Congress backed infiltrators, Modi claims at Assam rally

GUWAHATI: PM Narendra Modi blamed Congress on Sunday for Assam's ongoing demographic challenges, branding the party "defenders of infiltrators and anti-national forces" and daring it to compare its tenure with BJP's decade-long effort to push back illegal Bangladeshi settlers .

"Any change to demography is a danger to national security. BJP's objective is to protect the country from infiltrators and restore its integrity," Modi, on the second leg of his northeast trip after visiting Mizoram and Manipur, said at a rally in the poll-bound state's Darrang district.

The PM harked back to the 1962 Chinese aggression to highlight what he said were "wounds inflicted on the people of Assam by the policies of Jawaharlal Nehru". He alleged that Assam and the rest of the region were left to fend for themselves when Chinese troops advanced deep into Indian territory, exposing "the betrayal of the then Congress leadership".

Cong sides with Pak not Indian Army, says PM

The scars of that neglect are still remembered by the people of Assam. Congress of today continues with the same mindset, protecting infiltrators, he said.

Modi said the BJP-led govt's initiative to reclaim forest and community land from illegal settlers was as integral to combating the threat to Assam's demography as identifying and pushing back infiltrators.

PM accused Congress of "siding" with Pakistan instead of having the Indian Army's back as recently as during Operation Sindoor, mirroring its allegedly soft approach towards infiltrators from Bangladesh for decades. "Pakistan's falsehood becomes Congress's agenda. That is why you have to always be cautious of Congress," he told the Darrang crowd. "The nation won't forgive those who shelter infiltrators."

Before leaving for Bengal, PM inaugurated the world's first second-generation bioethanol plant at Numaligarh Refinery Ltd in Golaghat district. He also laid the foundation for a Rs 7,230-crore polypropylene plant at the refinery.