BJP President: "Congress Will Be Wiped Out"

With Assam's Assembly election fast approaching, the BJP turned up the heat on Sunday, with senior party leaders taking aim at the Congress and doubling down on the party's core campaign theme: illegal infiltration.

BJP President Nitin Nabin, speaking in Dhemaji, expressed confidence that the party would return to power for a third consecutive term, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah used a Nalbari rally to make one of his sharpest attacks on the Congress yet.

Also Read: Assam: BJP Chief Nitin Nabin Exhorts Booth Workers

Nitin Nabin did not mince words when assessing the Congress's prospects in the upcoming polls.

"We can see that the public has trust in the BJP government in Assam. This is a clear indication of the fact that the BJP government will be formed in Assam for the third time," he told ANI.

"Congress will be wiped out in the ensuing elections," he added.

Nabin also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address in the 132nd episode of Mann Ki Baat, saying the PM had reassured citizens about the country's stability despite a turbulent global situation.

"He has clearly stated regarding the global situation that the country is in a normal state. He has assured the people that the government is concerned about all their needs," Nabin said.

Addressing a public rally in Nalbari, Amit Shah launched a pointed attack on the Congress, accusing the party of deliberately enabling illegal immigration to consolidate vote banks.

"Driven by the greed for vote banks, the Congress party changed the entire demographics of Assam. Dhubri and its nine surrounding districts are now teeming with infiltrators," Shah alleged.

He claimed that Congress governments over the years had kept Assam's borders effectively open to illegal migrants for electoral gain.

Shah credited Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with reversing years of what he called Congress-era negligence on border security.

"Our Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has shut the borders... and reclaimed 1.25 lakh acres of land that had been occupied by infiltrators," he said.

He then made a direct electoral pledge to voters: "Today, I have come to Nalbari to say: form a 'Lotus flower' government for the third time. In the next five years, we will identify and deport every single infiltrator."

All 126 Assam Assembly constituencies will go to the polls in a single phase on April 9, with votes counted on May 4, according to the Election Commission of India.

The contest is shaping up as a straight fight between the BJP-led NDA alliance and the Congress, which is hoping to unseat the ruling party after two terms in opposition.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's government will be seeking a rare third consecutive term, while the Congress is banking on anti-incumbency and ground-level coalition work to stage a comeback.