Union Home Minister Amit Shah on April 3 said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have prepared a roadmap for tribal development, asserting that its implementation would depend on the BJP returning to power in the April 9 Assembly elections.
Addressing rallies at Dudhnoi in Goalpara district and Palashbari in Kamrup district of Assam, Shah said, “The prime minister at the Centre and the chief minister in Assam have a roadmap for the development of tribals in the state. It will be taken forward if people give the BJP a mandate for the third successive time.”
He also said the Modi government had ensured that Droupadi Murmu became the country’s first Adivasi President, adding that previous Congress governments had not taken such steps.
In Palashbari, Shah referred to allegations made by Sarma against Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi and his wife regarding links with Pakistan’s spy agency, though he did not name either the leader or the country directly. “There are allegations that the Assam Congress president has links with India’s enemy country. But he stays conspicuously mum about it,” Shah said.
The Union minister also accused the Indian National Congress of opposing the establishment of an IIM in Palashbari, asserting that it was the Bharatiya Janata Party which ensured the institute was set up.
Highlighting tribal welfare, Shah alleged that Congress governments since Independence had spent only Rs 25,000 crore on tribal development, while the Modi government had allocated Rs 1.38 lakh crore over the past 11 years. He described Goalpara as “Mini Assam”, citing the presence of Rabha, Bodo, Hajong and Koch communities, along with Adivasi tea garden workers.
Shah said tribal areas would remain outside the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). “The Congress is spreading rumours to scare tribals that they will be affected by the UCC, but this is absolutely untrue, and no tribal will fall under its ambit,” he said.
He also promised that “each tribal family will be given a cow and a buffalo”, adding that he would ensure this in his capacity as cooperation minister.
Referring to recent violence in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills, Shah alleged that infiltrators had sought to capture power by marrying tribal women, and accused Congress of turning Assam into a hub for infiltrators. “Give us another five years in power in Assam, and we will rid the state of each and every identified infiltrator by sending them back,” he said.
The Union minister said the BJP had restored peace in Assam by signing accords since 2019 and bringing over 10,000 youths into the mainstream. He also criticised Rahul Gandhi, saying, “We have to remember the past mistakes made by the Congress and ensure those are not repeated.”
Polling for Assam’s 126 Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4.
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