Assam polls: At Baksa rally, PM Modi urges militants to join mainstream
India TV NewsPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a fervent appeal to militants in Assam who have not surrendered yet to return to the mainstream as they are needed to create an 'Atmanirbhar Assam'. Addressing an election rally in Baksa district, the prime minister said people of the state have rejected violence for development, peace, unity and stability. "It's unfortunate that those who divided society and threw crumbs of development at particular sections for their vote bank politics are said to be practising secularism while we, who ensure that development reaches all, are termed communal," Modi said, attacking the Congress over long years of violence in the state. During the last five years, the "double engine" NDA governments at the Centre and in the state have resulted in "double benefit" for Assam, the prime minister said. Modi was apparently referring to the comments by Abdur Rahim, the son of AIUDF founder and MP Badruddin Ajmal, a Congress ally, who Friday asserted "dadhi, topi and lungi wallahs" will form the next government in the state.