Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday dared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to answer why his party, despite being in power at the Centre and in the state, did nothing to solve the problem of influx.

The question was posed at a silent, peace and development rally organised by the BJP at Jagiroad in Morigaon district to gather support in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This was the third such rally after Nalbari and Barpeta Road. AGP president Atul Bora and working president Keshab Mahanta attended it.

Sonowal said, “Rahul Gandhi is coming to Assam tomorrow. But I want to ask him what the Congress had done to solve Assam’s influx problem in the seven decades they were in power? It was Congress regime when 855 people died fighting against infiltrators. Can Rahul Gandhi answer me why the Congress did so?” Rahul has been the most visible anti-CAB/CAA face nationally.

Sonowal lauded the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for taking steps to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous peoples’ rights over land, language, culture and politics.

“No government has done anything to implement the Assam Accord. It’s Prime Minister Modi who decided to pay the Accord due respect and constituted a committee, led by the people of the state, to implement Clause 6,” he said.

“I am a son of the soil. How can I betray my own people? My job is to take my community ahead and to establish it as one of the most developed races in the world. I am committed to protect and preserve my own people and all must keep their trust in me. The Congress and the Leftists are only trying to mislead the public with false information and claims that lakhs of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh will enter Assam but it’s not true. Whoever entered Assam after December 31, 2014, will not be given citizenship.”

Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who led the “silent march”, said CAA was a “penance” for the mistakes committed by the Congress. He said they decided on December 31, 2014 as the cut-off date for CAA because Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister that year.

A crowd in the BJP peace rally.

“There has been no influx since. Whatever influx from Bangladesh took place was before 2014, when the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress regime was in power, to create their vote bank. We have told Sheikh Hasina (Bangladesh premier) that Hindus should not be harassed, ” he said.

In an oblique reference to illegal Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, he said, “We will not depend on chacha and mama (paternal and maternal uncles) to win. We will not tolerate the attacks on our xatras, naamghar and women.”

He reiterated that the BJP would come to power with 100 seats in the 126-member Assembly with its allies.

Sarma said the intellectuals participating in anti-CAA protests were employing double standards. “The BJP government made admission free in colleges so that students can excel in studies. But intellectuals like Hiren Gohain are asking students to hit the streets while their own children are studying in the US.”

On Sunday, the BJP will hold a rally in Sualkuchi in Kamrup district which falls under Sarma’s constituency. It will hold a public rally in the city on January 5 and in Biswanath on January 8.

Additional reporting by Sarat Sarma in Nagaon