Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves to supporters as he takes part in a road show during a campaign rally ahead of the state assembly elections in Guwahati, Assam, March 28, 2026. | Photo credit: AP
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (March 29, 2026) criticized the Congress for encouraging infiltration and changing the demographics of nine districts of Assam, including Dhubri, where Muslims constitute more than 74% of the population.
At rallies for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates in Dhekiajuli in north Assam’s Sonitpur district and in Tihu in west Assam’s Nalbari district, he demanded five more years for the BJP-led government to complete the unfinished business of driving out “resident” infiltrators.
He claimed that the BJP-led government in Assam has ended the infiltration but needs more time to drive out those who entered Assam and West Bengal (from Bangladesh) and spread across the country.
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“We could not complete our drive against infiltrators in 10 years even if we stopped them from entering. Nobody can enter now because the Himanta Biswa Sarma government has closed the border. But that is not enough. We have to drive out those who have already infiltrated,” Mr Shah said.
He said nine constituencies of Assam have become Muslim majority because the Congress has opened the door for infiltrators to use them as vote banks. These infiltrators entered India through Assam and West Bengal to spread across the country, he said.
As an example of how Congress has fueled infiltration, Mr. Shah cited the supposedly pro-immigrant Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act of 1983. The Supreme Court struck down the law in 2005.
“No matter how hard (Congress leaders) Rahul Gandhi and Gaurav Gogoi try to protect them, we will drive out the infiltrators,” he said.
He also criticized the 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 expose all the infiltrators one by one, delete their names from the electoral rolls and deport them to where they came from, never to return,” he said.
Pointing out that the BJP government had reclaimed 1.25 lakh acres of government land from infiltrators, Mr. Shah said people should vote for Mr. Sarma again to make Assam infiltrator-free, peaceful and developed. He insisted that only the BJP can provide jobs for Assam’s youth in their home state.
He praised the BJP government in Assam for being a terrorism-free state.
“This is the same Assam where bomb blasts and gunshots were common when the Congress was in power. In 10 years, we have brought peace by signing various peace accords with rebel groups in which 10,000 youth laid down their arms,” he said.
Mr Shah also criticized the Congress for ignoring the contributions of former Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi and music maestro Bhupen Hazarika. “BJP honored them with Bharat Ratna,” he said.
Published – 29 March 2026 15:46 IST
