Nadda Says NE’s Integration with Rest of India Completed Under Modi Government

PTI, Apr 18, 2024, 2:25 PM IST

BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday claimed that integration of North East with the rest of the country has happened under the Narendra Modi-led government, accusing the Congress of keeping the region in ”isolation and ignorance”.

He alleged that opposition parties are not bothered about people’s welfare, and are out to save themselves from being indicted in multiple scams.

Addressing a rally for the NDA candidate at the headquarters town of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Nadda also maintained that peace has returned to the area due to the peace accords signed by the NDA government.

United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), an ally of the BJP-led coalition in the state, has fielded Jayanta Basumatary from the seat, where elections are due on May 7.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, the BJP chief said, ”Congress’ policy was to keep North East in isolation and ignorance. It is the Modi and Himanta Biswa Sarma governments which worked to join you with the rest of the country.” ”Ten years back when you visited Delhi, people asked which country you are from. But now integration is complete,” Nadda said in the tribal-dominated region.

Referring to the peace accords signed under the Modi regime, especially with Bodo militant outfits, the BJP chief claimed insurgent attacks and the number of civilian deaths have decreased drastically in the region in the last ten years.

”This was the same Kokrajhar which was known for agitations, ethnic strife, bandhs, blasts, blockades, strikes. Kokrajhar had in a way become the hub of ‘andolon’. But under the leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, peace accords were signed,” Nadda said, referring to the Bodo peace pact of January 2020 as one of the most important such agreements of the 21st century.

He said Rs 1,500 crore has been given by the Modi government under the peace accord.

On the initiatives for North East by the Modi-led NDA government, Nadda said, ”The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has been removed from 70 per cent of North East.” ”One has to remember the ‘bure din’ (dark days) of the past to appreciate the present ‘ache din’ (good times),” he maintained.

He said Rs 5 lakh crore has been spent for the development of the region in the last five years, adding that the ‘Look East Policy’ was changed to ‘Act East Policy’ for ‘first and fast growth of North East’.

He claimed that Modi visited the region 70 times in the last 10 years, which was more than the visits of all the previous PMs taken together.

Union ministers have visited North East 680 times during the last decade, he said, as he listed the various welfare measures and schemes of the central government.

Alleging that opposition leaders from various parties from Congress to RJD to SP to DMK and others have been named in different corruption cases, Nadda said, ”Their scams ranged from the deep soils (coal) to space (5G) and everything in between.” ”These people are not bothered about you (the public), but are seeking your votes so that they can save themselves and their families,” he claimed, exhorting the people to vote for the NDA candidates and ensure a third successive term in the Centre.

Among various scams the opposition leaders are named in are laptop and Gomti riverfront development scams of Akhilesh Yadav, fodder and job-for-land scams of Lalu Prasad, liquor scam of Kavitha, ministers of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet named in teachers recruitment scam and disproportionate assets of DMK leader Stalin, Nadda claimed.

”The opposition leaders are either out on bail or in jail,” he said, referring to leaders like Lalu Prasad being out on bail and others like Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren still behind bars.