Cleaning up the sins of the Opposition: PM in Assam

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA governments at the Centre and Assam have been “cleaning up the sins of the Opposition” in order to fast-track development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday (January 17, 2026).

Without naming the Congress, Mr. Modi said that Assam had remained cut off from the mainstream for decades due to the Opposition alone.

“They created instability in Assam for their political gains and pushed the State into the fire of violence,” he said, while addressing the Bagurumba Dwhou 2026, a cultural event celebrating the heritage of the Bodo community at the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex.

The Prime Minister is in Guwahati on a two-day visit. This was his second visit to the State in less than a month and the third instance of participating in a mass dance event since 2023. He had earlier attended a world record-breaking mass Bihu dance by members of the Assamese community, followed by a Jhumoir dance by those from the Adivasi or “Tea Tribes” communities.

Mr Modi recalled that after independence, Assam had faced challenges, but instead of finding solutions, the State’s rulers at the time exploited those problems for political benefit. Criticising the Opposition party, the Prime Minister claimed that when trust was needed, they sowed division; when dialogue was needed, they neglected it, and closed the doors of communication.

He highlighted that the voice of Bodoland, the domain of the Bodo community, was never properly heard. When Assam needed healing and service, they instead opened the doors for infiltrators and focused on welcoming them.

‘Infiltrators turned votebank

The Prime Minister also touched upon the issue of “illegal immigrants”, often referred to as Bangladeshis, a staple of electoral battles in Assam.

“The Opposition party does not consider the people of Assam its own, preferring foreign infiltrators who become its loyal vote bank. He remarked that under the Opposition’s rule, infiltrators kept coming, occupied lakhs of bighas of land, and were aided by governments,” he said.

Mr. Modi lauded the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for freeing lakhs of bighas of land from “infiltrators” and restoring it to the rightful people of Assam, slamming the Opposition for “deliberately” pushing the region into difficulties.