Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday kicked off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for assembly elections in Assam, saying the northeastern state did not develop much despite a prime minister getting elected from there for 10 years.
He was alluding to former prime minister Manmohan Singh who represented Assam in parliament.
Modi said Assam has not developed much despite the 10 years of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule and that the Congress has been in power in the state for the last 15 years. The state assembly elections are due in April this year.
The prime minister first addressed a public rally organised by the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) and then a Yuva Shakti Sanmilan at Khanapara area in Guwahati. 
He also addressed a large gathering of students from different education institutions of the northeast at the Indian Institute of technology Guwahati campus before leaving for New Delhi.
In Kokrajhar, Modi said the Karbis of the plains will be granted the Scheduled Tribes (ST) status while the the Bodo Kachari community of the hill areas like Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao district will also be granted the ST status soon.
The prime minister, however, cautiously avoided talking about the issue of statehood to Bodoland and the Bodoland Peoples’ Front’s demand for a Rs10bn package for development of the Bodo region. 
While the BPF has been demanding a special package of Rs10bn for the four districts of Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD), several other Bodo organisations have demanded that the prime minister make the central government’s stand clear on the issue of statehood to the Bodo lands.
Modi also announced that the Central Institute of Technology (CIT), Kokrajhar, will be upgraded to a Deemed University within a year and more academic and administrative autonomy will be granted to the institute. 
He assured the people that the defunct Rupsi airport will be made operational for the Indian Air Force and common people as soon as the land clearance is received from the state government.
He said the central government was also working on extending the Kanchanjunga Express to Assam’s Barak Valley to boost connectivity of the region.
Modi targeted the erstwhile Congress-led federal government and the ruling Congress government in Assam.
“I was under the impression there is no problem in Assam. Assam is the state from where the prime minister was elected for 10 years. The Congress has ruled the state for the last 15 years. But I am shocked to see the problems and issues here,” he said. 
“So what has the prime minister, who was elected from the state for 10 years, done? They (the Congress) have not been able to do anything in last 15 years and they (the Congress) want me to do everything in 15 months time. You tell me if it is justified?” said Modi.
“You have seen their 15 years of rule and the 15 months of BJP government in power. We have been working each minute of these 15 months for the betterment of the country,” the prime minister said.