Guwahati: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said there would be no compromise on the issue of illegal migration in Assam but assured that no genuine Indian citizen would be harassed during the detection process.

``Foreigners have to go but no genuine Indian citizens will be harassed. The Foreigners Tribunal order has been amended to ensure that the rights of genuine citizens are protected,'' Ms. Sonia told an election rally in Nagaon as she arrived in the State to hit the campaign trail for the second time in a week.

Ms. Gandhi said that even after the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) 1983 was scrapped the Congress Government in the State ensured that no genuine Indian citizen was harassed.

Appealing to the voters to ensure that the Congress came back to power in the State, she cautioned, ``when the decision during elections goes wrong, not only the country but the State, in particular, is taken backwards by several years and problems for the people increase.''

Apart from Nagaon, Ms. Gandhi, accompanied by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and PCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita, also addressed election rallies at Mangaldai and Dhubri. In Mangaldai, Ms. Gandhi's chopper made a landing amidst pouring rain. However, the rain stopped when she left for Dhubri.

She alleged that during the Asom Gana Parishad rule, development had come to a halt. ``During the AGP's rule there was an atmosphere of fear as the insurgency peaked, the treasury was emptied, the State was under heavy burden of debt and Government employees did not get their salaries on time."

She said the Assam Accord was signed when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister but the AGP did not implement it. It was the Congress Government that ``ensured progress and development and improved the financial condition of the State."

"Will work harder"

``I am asking for your vote on the basis of the government's performance and the Congress policy. I promise that the Congress will not let you down but will work harder and ensure more than what it had done last time,'' she said.

She alleged that when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Government was at the helm, Assam received only half the assistance that the present UPA Government provided.

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