Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves to the supporters as he participates in a road show during an election campaign rally ahead of the State Assembly election in Guwahati, Assam, on March 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (March 29, 2026) slammed Congress for encouraging infiltration and changing the demography in nine districts of Assam, including Dhubri, where Muslims are more than 74% of the population.
Addressing rallies for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates at Dhekiajuli in northern Assam’s Sonitpur district and at Tihu in western Assam’s Nalbari district, he sought five more years for the BJP-led government to finish an unfinished job—drive out the “resident” infiltrators.
He claimed that the BJP-led government in Assam put an end to infiltration, but needs more time to eject those who had entered Assam and West Bengal (from Bangladesh) and spread across the country.
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“We could not complete our drive against the infiltrators in 10 years, although we stopped them from coming in. No one can come in now because the Himanta Biswa Sarma government has sealed the border. But this is not enough. We have to drive out those who have already infiltrated,” Mr. Shah said.
He said nine Assam districts became Muslim-majority because Congress opened the doors to infiltrators to use them as vote banks. These infiltrators entered India via Assam and West Bengal to spread across the country, he said.
Mr. Shah cited the allegedly pro-immigrants Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act of 1983 as an example of how Congress fanned infiltration. The Supreme Court scrapped the Act in 2005.
“However much (Congress leaders) Rahul Gandhi and Gaurav Gogoi try to protect them, we will drive the infiltrators out,” he said.
He also criticised Congress for opposing the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission. “You have nothing to fear when the Narendra Modi government is at the Centre. We will detect all infiltrators one by one, delete their names from the electoral rolls, and deport them to where they came from, never to return,” he asserted.
Pointing out that the BJP government reclaimed 1.25 lakh acres of government land from infiltrators, Mr. Shah said the people should vote for Mr. Sarma again to make Assam infiltrator-free, peaceful, and developed. He insisted that only the BJP could ensure jobs for Assam’s youth in their home State.
He lauded the BJP government in Assam for making the State terrorism-free.
“This is the same Assam where bomb blasts and gunshots were common when Congress was in power. In 10 years, we established peace by signing various peace accords with the insurgent groups, which saw 10,000 youth laying down weapons,” he said.
Mr. Shah also slammed Congress for ignoring the contributions of former Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi and music maestro Bhupen Hazarika. “The BJP honoured them with the Bharat Ratna,” he said.
Published – March 29, 2026 03:46 pm IST
