PM Modi Promises Rs 18,000 Crore for Assam Flood Control at Behali Rally

BISWANATH CHARIALI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that Rs 18,000 crore would be invested in Assam to tackle the twin challenges of floods and erosion — one of the state's most persistent and damaging problems.

The announcement came during a large public rally at Behali in Biswanath district, held in support of BJP-led alliance candidates contesting the Biswanath, Behali, and Gohpur Legislative Assembly Constituencies. Modi also addressed a second rally at Gogamukh during his visit.

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Opening his address, Modi thanked the large gathering for turning out in numbers and expressed confidence that the NDA would replicate its central government success in Assam by returning to power for a third consecutive term.

Taking a sharp dig at the Congress, he referred to the party as "Shahi Parivar" — the royal family — and predicted they would "score a century of defeats."

Modi trained his fire on Congress over what he described as a long record of neglect and deliberate manipulation of Assam's identity.

"Congress is always 'Vikas Virodhi' — anti-development," he said, alleging that the party allowed infiltrators to blend into the mainstream population, leading to widespread encroachment of Xatras and Naamghars — sacred Vaishnavite institutions central to Assamese culture.

He claimed the NDA government had since cleared these encroached lands and evicted infiltrators. He also invoked the example of Laokhowa Burha Chapori — a key one-horned rhino habitat — which he said had fallen victim to vote bank politics under the previous dispensation.

Modi devoted a significant portion of his address to welfare schemes targeting women, citing what he called the transformative impact of the "Double Engine Government" over the past decade.

He highlighted the Lakhpati Didi initiative and announced that the NDA's Sankalpa Patra commits to making an additional 40 lakh women financially independent under the scheme if the alliance is voted back to power.

He also said the Orunodoi scheme — which provides direct financial assistance to women in Assam — would be expanded further. On housing, Modi noted that 22 lakh women in the state have already benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), with another 15 lakh set to receive coverage under the scheme.

The Mudra Yojana, he added, has also helped many in the state access credit and build livelihoods.

On the infrastructure front, Modi highlighted rapid progress in road connectivity, noting that Assam's highways have reached a standard where fighter jets can now land on them.

He also announced an upcoming water tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra River, connecting Gohpur and Numaligarh at an estimated cost of Rs 18,500 crore. The project, he said, will significantly cut travel distances across the northeastern states.

"Youth power has played a big role in the development of the state, and Assam is becoming self-dependent very fast," Modi said.

Praising Assam's 200-year-old tea industry, Modi said the NDA government had delivered land rights to tea garden workers — something he accused Congress of having deliberately ignored for decades. Wages for tea workers, he added, have also been raised.

"I also started the election campaign in a tea garden today," he remarked, drawing a direct connection between the BJP's outreach and the tea community.

He closed his address by calling on voters to support the NDA for "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas."

Among those present at the rally were State BJP President Dilip Saikia, Sonitpur MP Ranjit Dutta, and BJP candidates Pallav Lochan Das, Munindra Das, and Utpal Borah.