GUWAHATI, Dec 24 � The Assam State Unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded that the Government of India should give a national commitment to seal the international border with Bangladesh within a specific time-frame in the interest of protecting the integrity of the country. The BJP also called upon Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to visit the international border areas to assess the situation on the ground.
Talking to medipersons here today, BJP State unit president Sarbananda Sonowal said that the Chief Minister was encouraging infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals with his statements. �The Chief Minister was giving a sense of security to the infiltrators and sense of insecurity to the Indian citizens with his statements. He is also going against the verdicts of the Supreme Court and Gauhati High Court,� Sonowal added.
The State BJP president thanked the Governor JB Patnaik for visiting the international border areas to assess the situation on the ground and demanded that Gogoi should also follow suit.
A team of the State unit of the BJP yesterday visited international border areas in Dhubri district and Sonowal said that in Gheumari area, four kilometres of international border is still totally open. He said that in Bhogdanga area,122 Indian families are living across the fencing and they have to suffer hardships. The Border Guards Bangladesh personnel as well as Bangladeshi nationals often harass them and no development activity is allowed in the village. The villagers are living like prisoners in their own country and the Government should look into the plight of these people, he demanded
Sonowal said that the facilities available with the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are also not adequate and even the communication sets provided to them are not functioning properly. Very often, the BSF men have to go from one BOP to other to give messages as the communication sets do not function properly, he said.
The State BJP president also alleged that the State Government was delaying the process of updating the National Register of Citizens in the interest of foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, replying to a question on the preparation of the BJP for the ensuing Panchayat polls, Sonowal said that the party would face the polls alone with the aim of �bringing in value-based Panchayati Raj system.�
PTI adds: Blaming the ruling Congress for corruption and mismanagement in rural development projects in Assam, BJP today said the electorate will teach it a �lesson� in the coming Panchayat polls.
�Last few years have seen huge misappropriation of Central funds and people in rural areas of Assam have been deprived of benefits of schemes under the Panchayati Raj system, Sarbananda Sonowal told reporters here.
BJP, he said, is expecting a good show in the polls and the first list of its candidates would be released before December 30.
Its main poll plank would be presenting itself as an alternative to the Congress and highlight about the corruption in the Panchayat system and rural development schemes, Sonowal added.
The panchayat polls in Assam will be held in three phases on January 30, February 6 and February 12, 2013.
