Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Assam Pradesh, on Tuesday, said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is wholly committed to the overall development of Assam and the entire northeastern region.


The saffron party said that the Narendra Modi-led government has allocated adequate funds for the infrastructural development of Assam in the past nine and a half years and against this backdrop, allegations leveled by the Assam Pradesh Congress leadership are totally misleading, figment of imagination, baseless, and politically motivated. The Assam BJP said that the Congress, which is steeped in “neck-deep” corruption, has no moral right to criticise Prime Minister Modi.


Addressing a press conference at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati, Assam BJP’s chief spokesperson Manoj Baruah said that the Congress, which ruled the country for over six decades, has betrayed the people with hollow promises and hopes.


“The Congress, which is synonymous with betrayal and mistrust, can never be accepted by the people. During the Congress rule, Rs 12 lakh crore was allocated in the budget, whereas during the tenure of the NDA government, a whopping Rs 44 lakh crore was earmarked in the budget, which shows clearly the huge difference between the budget allocations under the two dispensations. After taking over the reins, the BJP government brought peace and stability to strife-torn Assam and the entire northeastern region,” Baruah said.


Baruah said that there were a total of 11,121 incidents of violence between 2004 and 2014, but on the other hand, there was a drastic reduction of incidents to 3,114 incidents between 2014 and 2023, during the BJP-led NDA government’s tenure.


“Following the peace initiatives, there has been the lifting of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from 75 per cent areas of the northeast. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi at the Centre and Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam, there has been development in the true sense of the term and that is why, the Congress leadership is feeling nervous and insecure.


In the wake of the recent visit of Prime Minister Modi to Assam, which received a spontaneous response from the public, the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A bloc has no chance of getting support from the people which is crystal clear. The people of Assam are with the charismatic Prime Minister and with the most popular Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Baruah added.


On the other hand, state BJP’s spokesperson Subhas Dutta said that during the tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was elected from Assam for the period 2004 to 2014, saw an allocation of only Rs 58 thousand crore during the 13th finance commission, while during the Modi-led NDA government, a staggering Rs 1.55 lakh crore was released to Assam during the 14th finance commission.


“The Congress, which is embarking on “Nyay Yatra” during its rule, stopped crude oil royalty and natural gas cess, thus depriving Assam from getting its rightful due. It is only during the Modi-led government’s tenure that Rs 7,770 crore was released to the state as crude oil royalty. The capacity of Numaligarh Refinery was raised from three million metric tonnes to nine million metric tonnes besides starting a bio-refinery project at Numaligarh without the people of Assam having had to resort to agitation,” Dutta said.


Dutta said that unlike the Congress, which betrayed the people of Assam, the BJP government has initiated a slew of various schemes and projects to the tune of Rs 4.70 lakh crore during the past nine and a half years.


“During the Congress rule, the people, who were below the poverty line, that is 36 per cent, is now almost 22.5 per cent, and have come out of the grip of poverty and leading a decent life during the Modi-led government due to fiscal discipline and management,” Dutta added.  


Dutta urged the Congress to play the role of an opposition in a constructive manner instead of conspiring against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.


The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.