People of Assam troubled by infiltration from Bangladesh: Narenda Modi

SILCHAR: Accusing the Congress-led government in Assam of engaging in vote-bank politics, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today said that people in the state were "troubled" as it had failed to check infiltration from across Bangladesh.

"Assam lies next to Bangladesh, and Gujarat lies next to Pakistan. People of Assam are troubled because of Bangladesh and Pakistan is worried because of me," Modi said at a rally here.

Modi accused the government of committing human rights violations at detention camps and also charged that it had failed to fulfil its promises on development.

He said that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was having "sleepless" nights because of his visit to the state.

Modi said that infiltrators have to be sent back as they have not only taken away jobs of locals but have come with political designs in mind.

"Who destroyed Assam? People of Assam are troubled because of such governments who have failed to stop infiltration from Bangladesh. Do you want to live with the trouble created by the infiltrators from Bangladesh or think about the state's future?" he asked.

Turning to tea garden workers, Modi said that if his government came to power, they would evolve a policy for the welfare of the workers at tea gardens in the state, who are leading a miserable existence.

He rued the poor condition of tea garden workers and the industry as a whole, saying that over three to four generations of tea workers have been living in the same conditions while successive governments in the state turned a deaf ear to their plight.

"There is a also discrimination when it comes to payment of wages to tea garden workers in the Brahmaputra and Barak valley region. Why this discrimination? Is it not being done by Congress? They create all the trouble and we want to get rid of them," he said.