Neiphiu Rio only MP at Narendra Modi rally
A Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, MARCH 26
Codeword parivartan (translated as change in English) sounded across airwaves, and echoed resonantly among a crowd of no less than fifty thousand people, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday predicted an “exit” in the forthcoming elections for the ruling Congress in Assam.
Addressing an election rally in support of Atul Bora, the president of Asom Gana Parishad, at Bokakhat in Golaghat district, Modi said that he was confident of vikas (victory) even as he declared war on “poverty and corruption” under Congress rule in Assam.
He insisted that his fight was not with Tarun Gogoi, the current chief minister of Assam. “My fight is not against Gogoi but against poverty, corruption and destruction of Assam. I am not fighting against any individual,” Modi said.
He said that he respects Gogoi as an elder person, and in accordance to Indian culture which teaches the younger ones to always respect their elders.
Modi reminded the crowd in the period when India gained her independence from the Raj, Assam was among the top 5 best and most peaceful states in the country. And now, after 60 years of Congress rule, the state ranks among the poorest states in India, he said.
Modi pointed out that even after 60 years of Congress reign, there are still sixty thousand households (roughly two thousand villages) in Assam with no electricity connections, and that the Assam government had failed to submit a proper account of Rs 1,80,000 crore to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
While asserting that he had come to deliver the assurance of parivartan in Assam, Modi also shared that his three agenda for the state was “development, fast-paced development and four-cornered (all-round) development.”
Modi also sounded parivartan in the practice of vote-bank politics, which is rampant in Assam. He stated that the government was working to ensure that the illegal influx of Bangladeshi citizens to Assam is put to an end. “The biggest challenge is to deliver freedom from vote-bank politics.”
The Prime Minister also assured an end to the hunting and killing of the one-horned rhinos, which he described as a national treasure. He pointed fingers at the Congress for providing political patronage to the poachers, and thereby encouraging the killing of rhinos.
He could not resist taking a jibe here at the Congress, saying that it was not just the funds meant for development but also the rhinos that are now not safe in the hands of the Congress in Assam. It is worth noting that the famous Kaziranga National Park is hardly 30 kms away from Bokakhat.
“Now time has come to hunt the hunters of rhinos and one does not need guns and bombs to hunt these rhino hunters. One just needs to press a button in the forthcoming assembly polls to kill the rhino hunters,” Modi said.
Announcing his government’s development agenda in Assam, the Prime Minister said that the center would be investing Rs 12,000 crore alone for improvement of roads in Assam and another Rs 10,000 crore to boost rail connectivity in the northeast states.
Also, for the construction of 4-lane road between Numaligarh and Jorhat, Modi said that his government would provide Rs 400 crore for the project. He asked the people to give the BJP five years rule in Assam to remedy the 15 years misrule of Congress. The Prime Minister addressed three other similar rallies at Tinsukia, Majuli and Bihpuria in Assam today.
Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio also attended the Prime Minister’s rally at Bokakhat. He was accompanied by the former president of BJP Nagaland, M Chuba Ao, the current vice-president of BJP Nagaland, James Vizo, Lipok Pongen and Rusemtong Longkumer.
