Karimganj (Assam): The proposed land swap between India and Bangladesh was on Sunday flayed by BJP all-India vice-president and state in-charge SS Ahluwalia.
Only because of a pact between Indira Gandhi and Mujibur Rahman, and now between Manmohan Singh and Begum Sheikh Hasina, the land swap deal cannot be supported, he said.
"BJP will oppose any transfer tooth and nail," he said, adding it was in violation of the Constitution.
To protest against the deal, he hoisted the national flag there in the presence of BJP state president Sarbananda Sonowal and all four party MPs from the state - Bijoya Chakraborty, Kabindra Purkayastha, Romen Deka and Rajen Gohain.
"During the 55 years of Congress rule at the Centre, Barak Valley has only been neglected and no concrete steps have been taken for development," Ahluwalia said.
The East-West Corridor and Silchar-Lumding BG rail line have been dragging on for the last few years without any definite time frame for completion, he alleged.
Ahluwalia reminded the people of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s wish to set up an international trade centre, as part of the Look East Policy, in the Barak valley.
The BJP leader favoured revival of the Silchar-Kolkata waterways for rapid economic development and also for the benefit of landlocked states of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
As per the land swap deal signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Shiekh Hassina in 2011, around 235 acres of land on Latitilla-Doomabari border with Bangladesh in Karimganj district will be handed over to Bangladesh.
PTI
