Congress left borders vulnerable, BJP sealed them: Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the BJP government in Assam has halted illegal infiltration over the past ten years and sought another five-year mandate from the people so that the party can deport the last illegal infiltrator from the state.

Shah made the remarks while addressing a massive public rally after launching the ₹6,839-crore Vibrant Villages Programme-II (VVP-II) at Nathanpur village in Cachar district on Friday.

The initiative aims to foster secure, resilient and prosperous border communities in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat. VVP-II will be implemented across 15 states and 2 Union Territories through a saturation-based and convergence-driven approach.


Targeting the Congress, Shah alleged that previous Congress-led governments had left Assam's borders open, resulting in large-scale illegal infiltration and demographic changes. "People in border areas were forced to leave their lands due to insecurity, and illegal infiltrators captured those areas. Local people and youth lost opportunities as the population of illegal infiltrators continued to rise," he said. He claimed that during the BJP's first term, infiltration was stopped completely, and in the second term, the BJP government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma cleared lands that had been illegally occupied. "Once you vote for the BJP in the forthcoming elections and a BJP government is formed again, I assure you we will deport every illegal infiltrator from Assam," Shah said.

The Union minister also said Assam would be made flood-free in the next term. "We achieved in 10 years what the Congress could not accomplish in 50 years," he asserted. Highlighting development works, Shah said that over the past five years, 14 km of roads were constructed every day in Assam, more than 24,000 km of roads were upgraded and several bridges built. He added that the state's per capita income has risen to ₹1,56,000 in the last decade.