It is a bold step considering the current status of bilateral relations. The BJP has decided to make the issue of illegal immigrants in Assam as a major poll plank. The party, which heads central government under Narendra Modi, today promised to ensure sealing of Indo-Bangladesh border in its ‘vision document’.

The party has accused Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi of encouraging infiltration and destroying demography.

“Congress tried to destroy and change the demography of the state by encouraging infiltration. Congress has been doing it for many decades and took no action,” Union Minister Arun Jaitley said attacking the Gogoi government while releasing BJP’s Vision Document for Assam, where Assembly polls will kick off on 4 April.

The BJP Assam Vision Document 2016-2025 promised to work closely with the Centre for “complete sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state” if it was voted to power. It also assured the people that a law would be enacted to “deal sternly” with industries, businesses, Small and Medium Enterprises or any other agencies employing infiltrators.

Sealing of border is a bold step for BJP as its leader Narendra Modi has been building special bilateral relations with Bangladesh - source of illegal migrants.

The finance minister further trained his guns on the grand old party, saying the Congress has in the past several years ‘encouraged’ infiltration and failed to act on it as they wanted to turn it into a vote bank for themselves.

“Being a border state and a pivotal north east state, this vision document aims at providing security and it strongly emphasises on that,” Jaitley said.

Curiously, another chapter in bilateral relations opened this week with India supplying electricity to Bangladesh in return for Internet bandwidth that will help connect its North Eastern states. Prime Minister Modi described this as historic. Under Modi, India concluded settlement of border villages issue with Bangladesh last year.



India will supply 100 megawatt of electricity in return for 10 Gigabits per second Internet bandwidth.Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina launched the twin links through video conference.“In my opinion this is an historic occasion,” Modi said as he nudged Dhaka to join the space cooperation with India.

India, he said, is marching shoulder-to-shoulder with Bangladesh in its progress and today is the opening of a new chapter, he said. Hasina, in her speech, said, “We always remember India’s cooperation during the liberation movement in 1971.”



