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'Infiltrators' Vs 'Looters' In Assam: PM Modi, Priyanka Gandhi Trade Barbs Ahead Of Assembly Polls
'Infiltrators' Vs 'Looters' In Assam: PM Modi, Priyanka Gandhi Trade Barbs Ahead Of Assembly Polls
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi pitched a battle for the “soul of Assam" ahead of the assembly elections, exchanging barbs over development, identity, and “one-family" rule.
Assam will go to polls in a single phase on April 9, with the ruling BJP and opposition Congress locked in a fierce electoral contest.
Prime Minister Modi and Priyanka Gandhi were in Assam on Wednesday to campaign for the BJP and Congress, where they threw accusations against each other over the “infiltrator" versus “mafia" narrative.
Modi visited the Manohari tea estate in Dibrugarh district, where he sought to consolidate the “significant swing" towards the BJP witnessed since 2014 by directly interacting with women workers and plucking tea leaves.
The tea garden workforce, a demographic comprising voters from more than 850 gardens, have historically been a decisive factor in Assamese politics. Framing the BJP as the true benefactor of the labour force, he claimed that while the Congress allowed workers to “struggle for their basic rights" for 60 years, his administration had begun granting crucial land rights.
“Tea is the soul of Assam! The tea from here has made its way across the world. It was a very memorable experience," Modi said in a post on X.
Gandhi, meanwhile, used her rallies in Tingkhong and Nazira to dismantle his narrative, accusing the BJP of failing to fulfil its specific promise of hiking daily wages for tea workers. She alleged that despite Assam’s immense natural wealth, the workforce remains impoverished while “only one family is prospering".
Modi played the “double-engine" government card, drawing a sharp contrast between the “three bridges" built over the Brahmaputra river by the Congress in six decades and the “five bridges" his government has constructed in only 10 years. He said future-looking projects, such as the semiconductor facility at Jagiroad, will soon be known globally for technology.
Gandhi, however, said these grand projects were a mask for systemic neglect of the public’s daily struggles. She pointed to “peak" inflation and the unavailability of essential items as evidence of a failed economic policy.
“People’s problems and dangers have increased in the last five years in Assam. The inflation is at its peak, and every essential item is unaffordable. There is no job for youths who are going outside the state for employment," Gandhi said.
She said the BJP’s version of development has bypassed the younger generation and, instead of broad-based growth, state assets like mines and land were being “handed over to big industrialists".
“One family is looting everything in Assam. And when they are not looting, mines, lands and every other asset are being handed over to big industrialists," she alleged.
The Prime Minister launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of planning to “bring a law to protect infiltrators" to create a vote bank. He alleged that the opposition had previously encouraged illegal immigrants to settle on sacred “sattras, namghars and temple land". The election is a choice to protect Assam’s “shaan" (pride) and “suraksha" (security) through measures like the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and the Sixth Schedule to safeguard tribal identities, he said.
Gandhi countered this by reframing the threat, stressing the real danger to “Assam’s culture and civilisation" comes from an authoritarian leadership that rules through “fear and threats". She alleged that the BJP government is run by “cowards" who coerce women into attending rallies by threatening to remove them from government schemes like ‘Orunodoi’. She highlighted the BJP’s failure to accord scheduled tribe (ST) status to demanding communities, despite previous promises.
“Various tribal communities have been demanding ST status for years. The BJP had promised to accord ST status to them, but they failed to give it," she said.
The PM consistently attacked the “two families" of the Congress – the Gandhis in Delhi and the Gogois in Assam – accusing them of prioritising dynastic interests over the public good and labelling the party the “mother of corruption".
“For the Congress, there are two families – one in Delhi and another in Assam, and their priority is the interest of their families and not that of the people… They (Congress) have compromised Assam’s aatma (soul), shaan (pride), pehchan (identity) and suraksha (security)," he said.
Gandhi, in turn, targeted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma alleging that “only one family is looting everything" in the state.
She raked up historical corruption allegations, including the Sarada and Smart City scams, and described the administration as a “double-ghulami (slavery)" government, alleging Sarma is a slave to Modi, who in turn is a “slave of the US".
“The BJP said they have given a double-engine government. In reality, it is a double-ghulami (slavery) government. PM Modi is engaged in slavery of the US, and Himanta Biswa Sarma is engaged in slavery of Modi," she said.
(With agency inputs)
Source: News18
Related Posts: Assam assembly elections 2024, Assam election battle, Narendra Modi Assam, Priyanka Gandhi Assam, BJP vs Congress Assam, tea garden workers Assam, Assam development politics
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