No pact with Bangladesh, so Vajpayee failed to solve infiltration issue: Amit Shah

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could not resolve the Bangladeshi infiltration issue because of the absence of any agreement with the neighbouring country, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday said here.

"We did not have an agreement (Land Boundary Agreement) with Bangladesh at that time. So border fencing could not be completed. Now we have the agreement," Shah told a press conference when asked why the BJP government at the Centre under Vajpayee's tenure and AGP government, which was in power twice, at the state under Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's rule together could not resolve the issue.

"To solve the infiltration problem, we need BJP governments both at the Centre and the state. Only Assam government cannot solve this," Shah said.

AGP was an alliance partner with BJP during that time also and made the infiltration a big issue.

Shah, however, declined to commit on deportation of illegal immigrants, saying, "After assuming power, we will completely seal the border and expedite the process of updating NRC. Deportation will have to be done through joint agreements between governments of Assam, India and Bangladesh. Only Assam government cannot do it."

The BJP president said if the BJP-led alliance comes to power in Assam, the government will frame a mechanism within the next three months to stop infiltration.

"For years, Assamese youths are facing problems because of Bangladeshi immigrants. They are also a security concern for the entire country," he said.

"We have asked Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to clear their stand on infiltration issue, but they have not. Their silence is creating questions in our mind. Congress cannot solve this problem at all. Gogoi wants to win the polls by using Bangladeshis as vote bank," Shah claimed.

Talking about the campaign exercise, he said the party has conducted around 415 election meetings across the state, which has a two-phase polling on April 4 and 11.

"Our intention is not only to form government in Assam, but to do all round development of all communities and all geographical locations. This election is also to link the state with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led development process in the rest of India," he said.

He claimed that the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance represents the entire population of Assam and appealed people to elect the government with 2/3rd majority.

Addressing an election rally at Sualkuchi in Kamrup district, Shah questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi over what they had done to stop infiltration from Bangladesh into Assam.

Questioning Congress leaders, Shah asked, "For 55 years, Congress was in power at the Centre and Gogoi in Assam for 15 years. I want to ask Sonia ji and Gogoi ji what did you do to stop infiltration. Give your reply to the people of Assam. What is your plan to stop infiltration from Bangladesh?"

Stating that the infiltration problem in the state is the major issue in this election, Shah urged the people to "uproot the Tarun Gogoi Congress government and bring in BJP to power" to stop illegal migration from Bangladesh and make the country secure.

The BJP president said that the people of Assam had given their mandate to Gogoi for 15 years continuously for development, to stop infiltration, give employment to locals, 24-hour electricity, connectivity and health facilities in villages, "but he did nothing".