BJP vows to root out ‘illegal immigrants’ from North-East in election manifesto

New Delhi, April 8, 2019:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its manifesto titled ‘Sankalpa Parta’ released on Monday announced its intention to take necessary measures against ‘illegal immigration’ in the North East.

In the manifesto, it has been quoted, “There has been a huge change in the cultural and linguistic identity of some areas due to illegal immigration, resulting in an adverse impact on local people’s livelihood and employment. We will expeditiously complete the National Register of Citizens process in these areas on priority. In the future, we will implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in a phased manner in other parts of the country,”

The party in its ‘Sankalpa Patra’ further stated, “We will continue to undertake effective steps to prevent illegal immigration in the North-Eastern states. For this, we will further strengthen our border security. A pilot project on the use of technology to strengthen border security (Smart Fencing) was implemented in Dhubri (Assam). We will implement this on all borders.”

It may be mentioned that the vexed issue of ‘illegal immigration’ remains one of the pressing matters in the North-East region’s socio-political narrative. The BJP, which rose to power in the region with the promise of solving the issue once and for all, have been largely unsuccessful in its attempts to solve the issue. Moreover, the saffron party’s attempts to amend the Citizenship Act, thereby making it easier for ‘minorities’ from neighboring countries to become a part of India, is being looked at with suspicion by people of the region.