Ratabari (Barak Valley, Assam), March 31 (IANS): When Congress-led UPA government was in power, India was being run from Italy, BJP president Amit Shah said here on Thursday in a retort to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

"Rahulji came here and said Assam will be governed from Nagpur if BJP comes to power. I want to tell him that their government for 10 years was run from Italy when they were in power," said Shah, addressing a rally here in the Barak Valley, which goes to polls on April 4.

He said whereas the Congress does not know the difference between an infiltrator and a refugee, the BJP government will not only stop infiltration from Bangladesh, but will also give citizenship to those who had fled religious persecution in that country.

"We have been opposing infiltration from Bangladesh since the days of Assam movement... We are going to make such arrangements that not even a bird can enter the country, forget about the infiltrators," Shah said.

It is the BJP government at the Centre that has issued a notification recently, which envisages giving citizenship to Hindu migrants and refugees who fled to India due to religious persecution and atrocities, said Shah.

Assam would not be alone in shouldering responsibility of the Hindu refugees, but the country would chip in, said the BJP president.

The Congress's only "achievement" seems to be that it has "let the Bangladeshis infiltrate into Assam," Shah said.

"Rahulji and Soniaji are visiting Assam. I told them for once, at least, say that illegal infiltration should stop in Assam. But both have not even mentioned infiltration in their speeches." 

"How can they speak against infiltrators? They cannot because the Bangladeshis have become Congress's vote banks across the state," Shah added.

Shah slammed the Congress for failing to address the problems of Assam despite being in power for 15 long years.