Guwahati: The Congress would not allow Assam to become a "part of Bangladesh" and it considered the Muslims to be "loyal" citizens of India, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Saturday.
"We will not allow Assam to become a part of Bangladesh and the state will always remain with India. Muslim brothers and sisters are loyal to the country and are Indian citizens," Gogoi said.
The Assam Chief Minister was responding to the BJP allegation that the Congress was encouraging infiltration in the state from Bangladesh in the interest of its "vote bank".
Asked if the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), which threatens to divide the Congress' minority vote base in the state, would join his government post the Assembly polls, the Chief Minister shot back, "We are confident of forming the government on our own. We will not join hands with the AUDF which is the most fundamentalist party."
"There is instead every possibility that the members of the AUDF will come to us. If necessary we will break them," Gogoi added.
"Subsequently all of them will come to us after realising the futility of communal politics," he said.
Last year, nearly 20 Muslim organisations in Assam united under the AUDF to fight the Congress and threatened to considerably erode its minority support.
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