Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during Bhoomi Poojan of urea plant of Assam Valley Fertiliser & Chemical Company Ltd. at Namrup, in Dibrugarh on December 21, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeated his attack on Congress, accusing it of illegally settling Bangladeshi migrants in Assam and protecting them.
Addressing a gathering in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district on Sunday (December 21, 2025), he also criticised the grand old party for neglecting the land rights of tea plantation workers in the State.
Migrant Bengali-speaking Muslims, often given the ‘Bangladeshi’ tag, and Adivasis of central India origin referred to as ‘tea tribes’, are believed to constitute the two largest ‘vote banks’ in Assam, where Assembly elections are due in less than six months. While the Muslims are perceived to be pro-Congress, the Adivasis are said to have gravitated toward the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Congress has no concern for the identity of Assam and its people. They are interested only in power and continuing with their anti-India agenda,” Mr. Modi said, after laying the foundation stone for a ₹10,601-crore brownfield ammonia-urea plant in Dibrugarh district’s Namrup.
“Congress likes the illegal Bangladeshi migrants, and is protecting them after having settled them. This is the reason why Congress is opposing the ongoing exercise to correct the voters’ list,” he said, carrying on from where he left off on Saturday.
Mr. Modi said the bid to consolidate its vote bank is behind the Congress’s agenda to settle Bangladeshi people on Assam’s lands and forests. “You (the indigenous communities) get destroyed (in the process), but they are not bothered. They have to strengthen their vote-bank,” he told the gathering.
Asserting that Assam has to be protected from the “poison” of appeasement and vote bank politics, he assured the people that the BJP would always stand with them to protect Assam’s identity and honour.
“The BJP prioritises every work that enhances Assam’s prestige. But when it does that, Congress gets troubled the most. When our government conferred Bharat Ratna on Bhupen-da (cultural icon Bhupen Hazarika), the Congress openly opposed it,” the Prime Minister said.
He also slammed the Congress party for opposing the semiconductor unit being established at Jagiroad in central Assam’s Morigaon district.
“Despite being in power for many decades, the Congress denied land rights to Assam’s tea garden community. The BJP government has given them land rights, as well as a dignified life. As a chaiwalla, if I don’t do it, who will?” the Prime Minister said.
The ammonia-urea plant to be set up by the Assam Valley Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited will have an annual output of 12.7 lakh metric tonnes. The project is scheduled for commissioning in 2030.
Published – December 21, 2025 05:29 pm IST
