Guwahati, Oct 8: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is presently on a three day visit to the North Eastern Staates of Sikkim and Assam. The visit commenced on Oct 6. It is important to note that it is the Union Home Minister's first visit to North East ever since the AFSPA was extended in the region. Amit Shah inaugurated the newly built BJP office-- Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati, which is spread over 95,000 square feet and is the party's biggest office in the northeastern region, expected to be full of all modern amenities. In his speech he addressed some important issues and promised the people of Assam to reach solutions. Here's what he said;
1. Unlike Rahul Gandhi's strategy, BJP doesn't plan 'appeasement politics' in Assam
"Rahul Gandhi gave Congress an agenda to remove AFSPA from the northeast if they came to power (in 2019), for the sake of appeasement. When it was asked of me, I said we will first bring peace in the northeast and then only will remove AFSPA, which would not happen just for appeasement," Amit Shah said.
2. Earlier BJP didn't imagine to make a government of their own in Assam
"During my Vidyarthi Parishad days, we had never imagined if we would make a government on our own in Assam, but today, the consecutive rule of BJP in the state has been ensuring all-round development," he said underscoring that instead of arriving in Assam as Home Minister this time, Shah said he has come as a BJP worker.
3. Congress led to divisive governance in Assam
"People were always worried that if Assam doesn't get inclusive growth, it would be a big problem for North East. The underlying reason was Congress, which always was keen to make the pious and peaceful land of Assam, a divisive one," Shah added while alleging that the Congress-led UPA government had made the "great land of Assam a land of disintegration, of terrorism, of strikes, of agitations".
4. Under BJP rule, Assam is witnessing comprehensive development
Amit Shah said, "I am very happy today that in the short span of 2014 to 2022, the entire North East and our Assam has started on the path of development today. It is a matter of good fortune for a worker like me that the development of both North East and BJP (here in North East) are going hand-in-hand."
5. 'Flood - Free Assam' in coming 5 years
"Earlier, during Assembly elections, I said that we made Assam free from terrorism and strikes. Now give us five years we will make Assam free from floods. The Assam government has made yojana which will make floods a thing of the past in Assam within 5 yrs," said Shah. He further added, "The state must come up with a long-term plan which would provide protection from floods for decades to come and not look at short-term measures alone. The Assam government should come up with a concrete action plan to protect and rejuvenate the wetlands in the State and increase their holding capacity so that they can also act as storage reservoirs during floods."
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