GUWAHATI: National president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, reached Kaliabor and Jorhat on Thursday, March 28, to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Shah kick-started the party's 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Assam with sharp attacks on the Congress Party and former chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi over its alliance with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Attacking the opposition Congress party, he said that Congress and AIUDF have a secret understanding between them.
"It appears that the Congress is fighting alone but I urge the people of Assam not to get blind-sighted by this. Gogoi said that he wants to stay away from Ajmal but at night they stand side-by-side and get busy with Ilu Ilu (I love you, I love you). To secure the political future of his son, Gogoi has fallen at the feet of Badruddin," he added.
Shah was perhaps ridiculing how the AIUDF had decided to contest in only three of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state as this could help the Congress.
The BJP president called upon the voters to once again make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of the country for a “developed and stronger” India and to facilitate rapid development of Assam as well as the rest of the northeast.
“Congress did nothing for the development of the state but the BJP. They were in power for two decades but the major change is seen after the BJP came into power,” Shah further hit out at Congress.
However, he maintained total silence on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) which had generated public ire against the BJP in Assam recently. Instead, in both the rallies, Shah kept flaunting the BJP's agenda of development and pointed out that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government provided development projects worth Rs 3 lakh crores for Assam during the last 5 years.
He further lashed out at the earlier Congress government for providing only Rs 50,000 crores for Assam during their five-year tenure even though Dr Manmohan Singh had represented Assam in the Rajya Sabha for 20 years.
Shah addressed the first campaign at T Ao Rural Stadium in Kaliabor to pitch for BJP ally AGP’s candidate, Mani Madhav Mahanta after which he headed to Jorhat Institute of Science and Technology playground to campaign for BJP’s Topon Kumar Gogoi.
Speaking during the occasion, he announced that along with their allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), the BJP should sweep all the 14 parliamentary seats in Assam. He also urged all the party workers to work hard towards achieving the target.
Among others present during the occasion were chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma besides other MLAs and party leaders.
Star campaigners of BJP and Congress to visit Assam
With the filing of nominations for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections ending on Tuesday, electioneering has gained its momentum in Assam.
Star campaigners of all the political parties will begin their campaigns for the polls in an attempt to attract as many votes as possible. Parties such as Congress, BJP are putting their best foot forward in order to come to power.
BJP, staying a step ahead, has already decided on the dates of visit of their star campaigners and kicked off the campaign in Assam with party president Amit Shah on March 28. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address two election campaigns at Gohpur in Biswanath and Moran in Dibrugarh on March 30.
From All India Congress Committee (AICC), general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to visit Assam in April for the poll campaign. Along with Priyanka, party president Rahul Gandhi, former party president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also feature on the list of Congress’ star campaigners set to woo voters in Assam.
However, the national party is yet to finalize the schedule for its star campaigners’ visits.
The Congress party which aims to capitalize on the “good will” it has generated for itself because of its firm stand against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), believes that it will be able to put up a good show in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and win eight to ten parliamentary seats. On the other hand, Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP believes that the BJP along with its allies will win at least 12 out of the Lok Sabha 14 seats in Assam.
Amit Shah while addressing the gathering in Kaliabor aimed at sweeping all the 14 parliamentary seats and urged BJP party members to work towards the target.
It may be noted that voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls will be held on April 11, while voting for the second phase is scheduled for April 18 and third phase on April 23.
