Silchar: Union home minister Amit Shah will begin the BJP’s election campaign outreach in Assam’s Barak Valley with a visit to the India-Bangladesh international border in Cachar district on Feb 20, party sources said.Sources said Shah will arrive in Silchar on Feb 20 and travel to Natanpur village in the Katigorah area, close to the international border. He is scheduled to attend an event under the Centre’s Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP), a Union home ministry initiative focused on border infrastructure and livelihoods.Shah will also address a public meeting, with BJP working to mobilise a large gathering of party workers and local residents, sources said.The visit carries political weight in a region where BJP has made action against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh a central campaign theme. In recent years, security agencies have apprehended over 200 illegal migrants, including Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals, from Natanpur and nearby areas in Cachar, according to party sources.Barak Valley — covering 13 assembly constituencies across Cachar, Sribhumi and Hailakandi — shares a long and porous border with Bangladesh and has a Muslim-majority demographic profile. The region has often seen multi-cornered contests.The VVP focuses on livelihood generation, promotion of tourism and cultural heritage, skill development, and strengthening agriculture and allied sectors in border areas. BJP leaders said the party will pair development messaging with border security in its campaign pitch in the Valley.Political observers said Barak Valley’s 13 seats could be pivotal in govt formation. In the last assembly election, BJP and its allies expanded their footprint in the region, reshaping local electoral equations.By choosing a border village as the starting point for its Barak Valley campaign push, Shah is expected to project a combined message on national security and welfare delivery in frontier areas.
