Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, while addressing an election rally at Bokakhat in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district, came down heavily on Congress.

He said that there was “double neglect, double corruption” when the Congress-led government was both at the Centre and in Assam, but now the BJP’s “double-engine government” will make the state “Aatmanirbhar”.

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He also gave the slogan of “dusribar BJP Sarkar, dusri bar NDA Sarkar” and “dusri bar double engine Sarkar”.

PM Modi alleged that the Congress identifies itself as a secular party but to grab power, the party forged an electoral alliance with the communal forces in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala.

He said that after ruling Assam for over 50 years the party has to make “jutha (fake) assurances” and make an alliance with a communal party, he said referring to Congress’ “five guarantees” as fake and false promises.

“Congress means confusion, uncertainty, violence and separatism, blockade and agitations and Congress means corruption and fake guarantee,” the Prime Minister retorted and said that the party has no vision and its friendship is with only “chairs”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by senior central and state leaders on Saturday released the election manifesto in Guwahati promising “five guarantees” if voted to power.

The “five guarantees” include restarting the process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Rs 365 daily wage to tea garden workers, five lakh jobs in five years, Rs 2,000 per month allowance to housewives and 200 units free electricity per household. Saying that over Rs 40,000 crore being invested for Assam’s gas and oil projects, the Prime Minister said that projects are now underway for the compressed natural gas (CNG) for the vehicles and piped natural gas (PNG) for cooking in thousands of households.

“From the bamboo, ethanol (an organic chemical compound) would be produced in Assam. Since British rule bamboo was in the tree category. After 70 years, the law has been amended to boost the bamboo-based industries, plantations, value addition of bamboo and to empower the thousands of artisans who made thousands of items from the bamboo,” the Prime Minister said.

Before amending the law in 2017, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, placed bamboo in the definition of “tree”, besides palms, stumps, brush-wood and canes, and hence felling and transportation of bamboo required permit.

Promising the all-round benefit to the lakhs of tea garden workers in Assam after the polls, Modi said that the BJP government in the state after coming to power in 2016, twice increased the daily wages of tea garden workers while Rs 1,000 crore package was announced in this year’s central Budget for the tea garden workers.

Modi also accused the Congress of patronising rhino poachers, but the BJP government has curbed the rhino poaching and the poachers are put in jails, while the world-famous Kaziranga National Park has been freed of encroachers.

The 126-member Assam Assembly polls would be held in three phases. In the first phase on March 27, elections would be held in 47 constituencies, while in the second phase on April 1, polling would take place for 39 seats. In the last and third phase on April 6, elections would be held for the remaining 40 constituencies. The results would be declared on May 2.

(With IANS inputs)