Brisk preparations are afoot in the northeast Indian state of Assam for the ruling party’s rally where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah is sounding Lok Sabha elections bugle on Saturday.
Hitting the campaign trail at Guwahati, for the elections slated for 2019, Shah said, “In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, we’ve won 8 out of the 25 seats from Northeast India. And now we are targeting to win 21 seats from this region next year.”
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has registered electoral victories around the nook and corner of the country on a persistent basis. And in the Northeast, either the BJP or its allies from the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in every state are in power excluding Mizoram,” said the BJP president.
Northeast India, including Sikkim has an overall 25 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP won 7 seats in Assam and 1 in Arunachal Pradesh during the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Accusing erstwhile Congress governments at India’s Centre of being remiss about Northeast India, the BJP president said, “The Congress has always played the politics of divide and rule. But since assuming office, the Modi government has taken major steps for developing the Northeast.”
“Recently, Rahul Gandhi visited the Northeast for election campaigns and made baseless statements one after the other. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi. What has the Congress done for Assam during 10 years of its regime while the erstwhile prime minister was an MP (Member of Parliament) from Assam itself?,” added Amit Shah.
Shah lauded the Sarbananda Sonowal government for its “tough stand taken on the issue of corruption.” He added that the ongoing National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process would resolve the ‘illegal immigration’ issue.
Amit Shah also mentioned the land swap deal between India and Bangladesh on 2015 and amelioration of bilateral relations between Delhi and Dhaka. He stated that this camaraderie between the two nations (India and Bangladesh) augurs well for trade and commerce in Northeast India.
