NEW DELHI, March 11: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday praised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, calling its most significant achievement the reduction of the distance between the Northeast and the rest of India.
Speaking at the North-East Students’ and Youth Parliament event organized by ABVP in New Delhi, Shah emphasized that the government’s infrastructure initiatives would connect every capital in the Northeast by 2027 through rail, air, and road.
Shah highlighted the significant reduction in violence across the region, citing that violent incidents had decreased by 70% under the BJP’s tenure, from 11,000 cases between 2004 and 2014 to 3,428 between 2014 and 2024. Security force fatalities dropped by 70%, while civilian deaths saw an 89% reduction in the last decade. These improvements, according to Shah, were the result of peace agreements, with 12 major accords signed with armed groups over the last ten years.
Shah credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for prioritizing the development of the Northeast, mentioning that the Prime Minister’s leadership had brought unprecedented focus to the region. He pointed out that, under Modi’s guidance, every month, a minister stays overnight in a different Northeast state. He also noted that Modi had visited the region 78 times (excluding Assam) since taking office, compared to a combined total of just 21 visits by previous Prime Ministers.
In his speech, Shah unveiled an ambitious development initiative for the region, including the establishment of a Rs 2,700 crore semiconductor plant in Assam and an overall investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the Northeast. Shah assured the youth that these investments would create abundant employment opportunities within the region, promising that no young person would have to migrate for work in the coming decade.
The Home Minister concluded by reiterating that the Northeast’s future was bright, thanks to PM Modi’s vision and the BJP’s commitment to both peace and development in the region.
