Dibrugarh, Jan 30 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of disrespecting the North East by refusing to wear a 'gamosa', presented by President Droupadi Murmu at the 'At Home' reception hosted by her on Republic Day.

All dignitaries, including those from abroad, had worn the scarf as a mark of respect, but Gandhi was the "only person to refuse" to do so, Shah claimed, while addressing a public rally at the Khanikar Parade Ground here.

He asked Gandhi ''what enmity does he have towards the people of NE....why such injustice against the people of the region''.

''Rahul Gandhi can do whatever he wants, but as long as the BJP is in power and politics, it will not allow any disrespect of the North East's culture. We are firm on this, and nobody can shake us from this firm stand," the BJP leader said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worn the Assamese 'gamosa' at the UN and talked about Vaishnav saints Sankardeva and Madhavdeva, thereby spreading the state's culture globally, he said.

Shah also accused the Congress of using infiltration as a "weapon of its vote bank politics".

''There has been no infiltration in Assam since the BJP came to power. Those who had come to India illegally will be identified and sent back," he added.

Asserting that before the last elections, the BJP had pledged that infiltration, which "changed Assam's demography and compromised the nation's security", would be stopped, Shah said, ''We kept our promise".

The Assam government has stopped the process of changing demography, and has freed 1 lakh 26 thousand acres of land from infiltrators, he said. "If demographic change is not stopped, Assam may face difficulties in the coming days, and only our government can stop it.'' Shah alleged that the opposition party, for the sake of vote banks, had even handed over the sacred land of Srimanta Sankardeva to infiltrators, which the Himanta government of Assam has now made infiltrator-free. He also alleged that the Congress did nothing for Assam's development, and the BJP dispensation in Assam, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken a series of initiatives for the progress of all sectors.

Both BJP Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal initiated several development works, and this is happening because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Assam in his heart, he said.

''The Congress ruled at the Centre for decades since Independence but did nothing for the development of the state. Now the BJP gives priority to Assam, whether it be in infrastructure, wildlife and environment, semiconductors, cancer facilities, airport, railways, waterways, industry and others,'' he said, ''I want to ask Rahul Gandhi what his party has given to Assam except guns, bullets, conflicts and deaths of youth," the union home minister said.

After the BJP government was formed at the Centre, more than 20 peace agreements were signed in the North East and more than 10,000 youth laid down their arms to make Assam and the region peaceful and secure, Shah said.

There was a time when there were guns and explosions but now it is the music of Bhupen Hazarika that is reaching the world and it was the BJP government that gave Bharat Ratna to him, he said.

The Congress did not honour even its first chief minister Gopinath Bardaloi with Bharat Ratna, and it was the BJP that did it, he added.

''We have started a new culture of peace, good governance, development and taking all together in the path of progress'', he said.

The chief minister has ensured equal rights for all communities by focusing on their all-round development, the union minister said.

Shah also charged the Congress with doing "nothing for the welfare of the tea garden workers" who have positioned Assam, particularly Dibrugarh, as the tea capital of the country.

''The chief minister has amended the law to ensure that the tea garden workers get ownership rights of land to over 20,000 people in around 850 tea gardens ," he said.

The people have struggled for decades for land ownership -- first they did during British rule and then when Congress was in power -- but none paid any attention to them, he said.

Shah alleged, without elaborating, that the Congress had issued a toolkit to defame Assam and its tea industry.

The recent free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU will ensure that Assam tea shipments will go to European countries with zero tariff, he said.

''The EU-India trade pact will boost Assam tea exports to European countries'', he asserted.

Shah said the BJP had promised in the last polls that its government would make Assam flood free, and "the steps in this direction have already been taken before the 2026 elections''.

He appealed to voters in Assam to "elect the BJP for the third consecutive term to ensure development, peace, security, industrial and agricultural progress, and make Assam free from infiltration and flood".

Shah also paid his tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Martyrs' Day.

''Bapu had united the entire country to ensure Swaraj for the country, and I pay my humble tributes to him,'' he said. PTI DG BDC DG NN