PM wags finger at migrant influx

‘‘The people of Bangladesh should remain happy within their own country. They should not be here, particularly in Assam, so that the Assamese are not reduced to a minority,’’ he said. Without naming the party, he lashed out at the Congress for playing politics with problems including infiltration, and claimed that the BJP was the only party that cared for Assam and the Northeast.

Vajpayee also referred to floods as a major problem in Assam and said his government was open to the idea of joining hands with Bangladesh to solve the problem.

In his 30-minute speech, he also talked of insurgency and renewed his appeal to ULFA and other militant groups to shun violence and participate in the process of nation-building.

Vajpayee also claimed credit for bringing about a peaceful atmosphere in Nagaland but hinted that things would not be well if the Nagas did not give up violence. ‘‘We have initiated peace with Pakistan. Finding a peaceful solution to the Naga problem is not difficult,’’ he said.

He also talked of the BJP making India self-sufficient in foodgrain production and said while the country was importing food stuff till a few years back, ‘‘we are now exporting foodstuff to different countries’’. There hasn’t been any starvation death in India during the last five years, he claimed.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the NDA would certainly form the next government and realise the dream of making India a developed nation by 2020. He reeled out data about how much funds the BJP-led government had released for Assam and N-E, but not before faltering with facts and figures several times. For instance, he claimed the BJP government had created the North Eastern Council, while it is a fact that the council was created in 1972 by the Congress. Similarly, he referred to ‘‘influx from Bengal’’ when he meant influx from Bangladesh.