PM’s ‘Double Standard’ Unites Rivals

Guwahati: For the first time, chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his predecessor Prafulla Kumar Mahanta from the opposition bench spoke in unison in the House on Tuesday while taking part in a discussion on the issue of illegal migrants and implementation of the Assam Accord.
Both Gogoi and Mahanta criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha election campaign remark here that Bangladeshi migrants would have to pack up after May 16.They also pointed out that the responsibility of implementing the Assam Accord and protecting the state from Bangladeshi infiltration primarily lies with the Centre.
The discussion came up when AGP moved a private member’s resolution to make the Centre implement all the clauses of the Assam Accord that have not yet been fulfilled even after 29 years of signing the document.
The coming together of the two politically rival parties on the issue was capped by AGP withdrawing its resolution and Gogoi assuring to bring one from the government’s side on the same line.
“The ministry of home affairs is the nodal ministry for implementing the Assam Accord. We have been in power too. But without the help of the central government, the Accord cannot be implemented in totality. Without a bilateral agreement between India and Bangladesh, we cannot expel the illegal Bangladeshi migrants from our country,” Mahanta said. Mahanta, who was the president of All Assam Student’s Union, was one of the key signatories of the Accord in 1985.
Referring to Modi’s election campaign speech, Mahanta said, “He had said that after May 16, Bangladeshis have to pack their bags and go. Now, with proposal for visa relaxation for Bangladeshi travellers, he is making a big U turn.”
Gogoi, in his reply, was more sarcastic. “If we have to go by the May 16 deadline, we shouldn’t be asking for sealing the Bangladesh border.”
The chief minister said while it is the Centre’s job to stop infiltration from across the border, the state government has to detect and deport them if they manage to enter the country.