Guwahati, Jan 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Congress, alleging that the opposition party paralysed the growth and development of Assam when it was in power.

Addressing a huge gathering at the Sarusajai Sports Complex here, PM Modi said: "The Congress always used Assam as a tool for having political gain by keeping the region in a disturbed state. Many issues in Assam, particularly in the Bodoland area, were kept alive by the Congress party for their vote bank politics."

The Prime Minister also accused the opposition party of offering hindrance to the development of the state by opposing development initiatives.

In an apparent dig at Karnataka Congress leader Priyank Kharge, he said: "When a semiconductor plant was commissioned in Assam, a senior leader of the Congress party who is also the son of the national party president opposed the move by the government. This has exposed the real face of the Congress which does not want any development in Assam."

PM Modi also said that the BJP's double-engine government has brought growth and development in Assam while clearing the backlog of the previous Congress governments.

He stated that Assam would become a focal point in the country's growth story.

Notably, PM Modi began his two-day visit to Assam on Saturday.

He landed at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in the evening and was welcomed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

On Sunday, at around 11 a.m., the Prime Minister will visit Kaliabor, where he will perform the bhoomi pujan for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project, an ambitious infrastructure initiative worth over Rs 6,950 crore.

The 86-km-long project, officially the four-laning of the Kaliabor–Numaligarh section of NH-715, is designed as an environmentally sensitive national highway project.

It includes a 35-km elevated wildlife corridor passing through Kaziranga National Park, along with 21 km of bypasses and 30 km of widening of the existing highway. The project will improve connectivity across Nagaon, Karbi Anglong and Golaghat districts while ensuring free movement of wildlife and reducing human-animal conflict.

During the programme, the Prime Minister will also flag off two new Amrit Bharat Express trains -- the Guwahati (Kamakhya)-Rohtak and Dibrugarh-Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) services -- strengthening rail connectivity between the Northeast and northern India.

--IANS

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