No foreigners expelled: Congress trains guns on PM Modi over 'broken election promises'

GUWAHATI: With days to go till the commencement of the Assembly elections in Assam, the Congress party has prepared a "charge sheet" against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pointing out its 'broken promises' and 'betrayal' towards the Assamese people.

 

Charging the party with the non-expulsion of foreigners, Congress leader and Chattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "Modi had said here in 2014 that, after 16th May all Bangladeshis will have to leave bag and baggage. The BJP had also stated that there were 50 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam. That this was a false statement is made apparent by the figures of the Home ministry, according to which, 989 people in 2014, 474 in 2015, 308 in 2016 and 51 persons in 2017 were expelled as Bangladeshis. The number has further dwindled to 50 Bangladeshis pushed out of the country in 2018 and 2019. The numbers prove how many illegal migrants the Modi government has actually deported."

 

The BJP had promised to protect the jati- mati- bheti (community- land- base) but instead imposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on the people of Assam. CAA is posing a threat to the language, culture and identity of the people of Assam. It is giving a red carpet welcome to illegal migrants to settle in Assam. The saffron brigade has failed to implement the Assam Accord in letter and spirit, and also Clause 6, as promised by them, the Congress said in a release.

 

The grand old party further changed the ruling party with "putting NRC on the shelf."

 

"BJP had promised to finish the work of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), started by the Congress, which would help identify foreigners. But the party has stalled the process of NRC for reasons best known to them. It is affecting the genuine citizens who did not find their names in the document," it said.

 

Taking digs at the ruling party over the 'unemployment' issue, the Congress stated, "there are around 3 lakh posts lying vacant in different departments at present and the number of unemployed in the state has reached 40 lakh. The central government has, in fact, stopped appointments in government offices, public sector undertakings and nationalized banks."

 

"Instead of jobs, the young men and women of Assam have been regularly presented with appointment scams. There have been a series of recruitment scandals- in 2018, the scam in the appointment to 145 posts in the Panchayat and Rural Development department and another related to 1000 posts in the same department. Then, the Assam Police SI recruitment scam of huge proportions came to light, where senior serving and retired police officers were arrested. The rot has set in deep during the BJP’s tenure," it added.

 

The Assam Congress further slammed the BJP for selling "our prized resources, from oil fields to the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport to corporate houses that are close to the Modi regime."

 

The Congress also slammed the BJP for the syndicate raj, while also pointing to the astronomical rise in the prices of goods and commodities.

 

"The general public is being made to feel the pinch as the prices of essential commodities and fuel have gone through the roof. Petrol, diesel and LPG prices have more than doubled while the price of vegetables, dal and cooking oil has made living tough for people everywhere," the party's release said.

 

The BJP government in Assam has failed to increase the daily wages for tea workers, despite a clamour among the tea workers’ associations and a promise by the government to raise the wage to Rs 351. The jugglery used by the Sonowal government to increase Rs 50 for the interim period has failed, with tea companies taking the government to court for not adhering to regulations. The promise to provide ST status to over one hundred sub- tribes of the Adivasi tea community was also not kept by the BJP.

 

"BJP has backtracked on the promise of providing ST status to 6 tribes of Assam. The party’s national secretary JP Nadda even told an outright lie when he said at a Silchar rally on January 11 that ST status has been granted to the concerned tribes," the Congress further said.

 

The party also said that BJP has failed to solve the flood and erosion problem faced by Assam or declare it a national problem, despite promises made from time to time.

 

Stating that farmers have been denied minimum support price, the Congress stated that the BJP’s vision document had promised the state’s farmers that they will get the minimum support price for paddy. "But only 1 percent of the total paddy produced was procured at that price. Farmers will soon have to protest on the roads for not getting proper prices. The Farm Acts passed by the BJP has farmers across the country protesting against the unfair legislations."