Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that once the BJP returns to power, it will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state within three months, PTI reported.
It will be implemented without disturbing the rights of the tribals and other ethnic communities of the state, the chief minister said on the sidelines of a programme to release the BJP's manifesto for Assam assembly polls on April 9.
''We are also bringing tough legislation against 'love and land jihad' and empowering the District Commissioners of the state to enforce the Illegal Immigrants Expulsion Act, 1950, whereby they are authorised to expel foreigners within 24 hours'', he said.
The chief minister asserted that the BJP will ''completely unleash a legal battle against illegal encroachers in our forest and other land...we will evict and ensure the last inch of land from the clutches of the Bangladeshi infiltrators."
Asked how long it will take to remove the infiltrators from the state, Sarma said that as long as ''Bangladesh existed, infiltrators will keep coming and we will have to battle them. Sending back infiltrators is not like constructing a building, for which we can fix a completion deadline.''
''As long as India and Bangladesh exist as neighbours, this will be an ongoing battle, and we will have to keep fighting against this menace,'' he said.
During the past five years, ''We have broken the arms and legs of the Bangladeshi Miyas, and now they are not to be found anywhere near Dispur'' (the state secretariat), considered as the seat of power, he said.
''It is our promise that this time we will politically break the backbone of the Bangladeshi Miyas'', he said.
The chief minister also highlighted the various development and welfare initiatives to be taken up when the party returns to power.