Cong, AIUDF encouraging illegal immigration in Assam: BJP

"Two parties are responsible for the current situation (in Assam). It is the Congress and the AIUDF who are encouraging illegal immigration for the sake of vote bank politics," BJP national executive member and state spokesperson Sarbananda Sonowal told reporters here.

He said LoC in Kashmir was sealed with electric fencing in one-and-half years and the 1,000 km international border in Jammu, Punjab and Rajasthan were fenced in two years.

"However, the government has not been able to seal the 272 km Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam for 27 years since the Assam Accord was signed in 1985," Sonowal said.

He said during UPA-I, the then minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal had said over 57 lakh Bangladeshis illegally entered Assam, besides another 50 lakh in West Bengal, 17 lakh in Bihar and 12 lakh in Delhi.

"However, when Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was asked the other day in Parliament about illegal immigration, he was not able to give any figure. The question is where have all the old data vanished?" Sonowal asked.

The BJP leader urged the government to urgently start work on updating the National Register of Citizens so that names of illegal immigrants could be struck off from voters lists.

Regarding the allegation that NDA government of A B Vajpayee also took no action against infiltration, he said, "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in his second term, while Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is serving his third term. Instead of blaming their predecessors, they should take immediate action."