On Saturday, December 20, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, accusing the Congress of supporting "infiltrators."
In order to thwart the efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA administration to prevent infiltration and identify the infiltrators, the Prime Minister further said that the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance were openly adopting "anti-national agendas."
An important electoral issue in Assam is the use of the term "infiltrator" as a euphemism for "illegal immigrant" or "Bangladeshi."
Speaking to a crowd following the opening of the new terminal building at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati, the Prime Minister stated, "The Supreme Court has also spoken about removing the infiltrators, but they (Opposition) are giving statements in defense of the infiltrators."
"These people in every corner of the country are troubled" since the Election Commission of India started the SIR exercise to guarantee free elections, he remarked, taking a jab at the leaders of the opposition political parties.
The interests of the Assamese brothers and sisters would not be safeguarded by such individuals. They'll let others use your forests and land. Mr. Modi cautioned that "the violence and unrest of earlier times can be recreated by their anti-national mindset."
"Therefore, it is essential that the people of Assam stay vigilant and united, and defeat conspiracies to prevent Assam's development from being derailed," he said, citing Gopinath Bordoloi's 1947 defiance of the Congress leadership to thwart a plot to incorporate Assam into East Pakistan.
The Prime Minister claimed that the interests of the indigenous groups in Assam were subordinated to vote-bank politics under the previous Congress administrations.
He accused the grand old party of ignoring the progress of Assam. He stated, "We are correcting six to seven decades of mistakes the Congress party made in Assam," citing numerous initiatives costing millions of dollars that have been started for the northeastern province over the previous eleven years.
He said the opening of the new airport terminal is evidence of his government's dedication to northeastern development while unveiling a statue of the state's first chief minister.
The terminal structure, which spans 1.4 lakh square meters, can accommodate up to 1.3 crore passengers each year. Assam's biodiversity and cultural legacy serve as inspiration for the design of India's first airport terminal with a natural theme.
Mr. Modi praised the unique use of bamboo in the terminal's construction, emphasizing that the material is a vital component of Assamese culture and represents both beauty and strength.
He later participated in a roadshow from the Assam BJP's headquarters at Vajpayee Bhawan to the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex on the outskirts of Guwahati.
In relation to the Assembly elections, a party spokesperson stated that the Prime Minister would probably preside over a strategic conference with party leaders.
The foundation stone for a ₹10,600-crore brownfield ammonia-urea factory in Namrup, eastern Assam, will be laid by the prime minister on Sunday, December 21. It is anticipated that the factory will meet northeastern farmers' fertilizer needs.
