Hitting the campaign trail in Assam for the second time in a week, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday reiterated her party's commitment to protect minorities and giving more thrust to development of the state.
Addressing three election rallies during her whirlwind tour of the state during the day, Sonia promised protection to genuine Indian citizens in the process of detection and deportation of foreigners in the state.
"We have been able to ensure that no genuine citizens belonging to minority communities is harassed in the state even after scrapping of the IMDT Act, 1983," said the Congress president, kick-starting her electioneering for the day at a rally in minority-dominated Nagaon in central Assam.
Stating that the Congress was the only party that strived for the uplift of the minorities and underprivileged, Sonia said, "Working for the underprivileged is in the ideology of the Congress. Our ideology does not change with time and atmosphere."
Complete Coverage: Assam Polls
The United Progressive Alliance chairperson made an appeal to the people to vote for Congress enabling it to rule the state for the next five years so that it could carry forward the development works it had undertaken in the last five years in the state.
She said, "I am here to ask for your (people of Assam) support to help the Congress build Assam's future."
Charging the rival Asom Gana Parishad with failing the state on all counts, she said, "When the AGP was in power, and they could not get even half the volume of central assistance the Congress could procure for the state during the last five years."
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Addressing another huge gathering at Dhula near Mangaldai in northern Assam, the Congress chief commended the people of the state for ensuring communal harmony and keeping religion out of politics.
Sonia said, "Assam has no communal tension. The secular nature of the state must be preserved at all costs and the Congress can ensure that the secular fabric of the society is not hampered."
She also said that the Congress was committed to restore peace in Assam. "Insurgency gained strength in Assam during National Democratic Alliance's rule. Peace-talks with the United Liberation Front of Assam insurgents were initiated during the UPA's regime. Violence cannot solve anything. Peace and coordination are necessary for progress," she noted.
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