SONARI, March 31 � BJP top leader Lal Krishna Advani today addressed a series of meetings in the three upper Assam districts of Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, where his mantra was that his party wants to build up Assam as a model state for peace, harmony and development.
Despite inclement weather, large crowds gathered at Margherita, Tingkhong, Sonari and later in the evening at Chiring Chapori here, where he addressed election rallies along with NDA convener Sharad Yadav, Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakraborty, BJP leader from Orissa, Dharmendra Pradhan and Sarbananda Sonowal, among others. Pradhan spoke in several languages, including Oriya and crude Assamese, to appeal to the tea garden voters at Margherita, Tingkhong and Sonari.
�Each time I come to this beautiful state of Assam, my eyes gets moist at the thought that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said goodbye to this beautiful state at the news of the advancing Chinese army in 1962,� Advani said, his voice crackling with emotion. �As a person who was displaced from Karachi upon partition, only I know the pain of having to leave one�s ancestral land,� he added. He said the Congress leaders of that time (1962) wanted the natives of Assam to flee from the Chinese aggressors. In his vivid description of Assam as one of the world�s most beautiful places, he called upon the locals of the state to stand up to the modern day challenges of infiltration and employment and get together to take the state to its rightful place.
At all the venues, he drew a loud applause when he said that the NDA and the BJP has grand plans for Assam�s development in the days ahead. �What is obstructing the process is the widespread corruption that Congress governments indulge in, be it in Guwahati or in New Delhi,� he said. He said that corruption existed in the country earlier, but was limited to tolerable limits. �But now we see that Congress governments both at the Centre and in the states where it rules appear to be in a competition to outdo each other�the more corrupt they are, the better appraisal they receive from 7 Race Course Road and 10 Janpath,� he opined. He said: �Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of an ideal state where corruption would be the last word, but we are seeing how the Mahatma�s ideals are being crushed by people swearing by him and taking turns to seek votes and rule in the name of his legacy.�
He said the people of the state should visit BJP/NDA � ruled states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Bihar to see how development has taken precedence over all else. He claimed that in the NDA ruled states, corruption is an aberration rather than the rule.
Advani said that the BJP is committed to seek permanent solutions to all the issues that challenge Assam and its people, and hoped that the people would vote for this in the Assembly polls here on April 4 and 11.
The widespread corruption at the Centre and in Assam came for sharp criticism from NDA leader Sharad Yadav. He said it is a matter of grave concern that corrupt regimes are seeking re-electoiopn and called upon the electorate to reject such politicians. He cited the example of Bihar, which suffered the corrupt misrule of the Congress/RJD combines� Laloo government for fifteen years, to be overthrown by the NDA. �Bihar today is known for its development strides and restored law and order,� he claimed. He too asked the electorate of Assam to overthrow the Congress and vote for the BJP to restore positive development in the state. �This would be better than to regret later,� he added.
