Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party's claims that his government was protecting infiltrators, asking why the saffron party never brought up the matter of illegal migration from Bangladesh previously in the two years it has been in power at the Centre.

Gogoi said the BJP conveniently rakes up the matter in the state before every Assembly elections, just as they stoke the fire over building a Ram temple in Ayodhya before the Lok Sabha polls, reported PTI. Gogoi added that the BJP does not want solve these issues, so that they can be used as poll planks in every election.

The second and final phase of polling for a new government in Assam will be held on April 11. During its election campaign, BJP has alleged that the Gogoi administration encouraged Bangladeshi migrants to woo Bengali-speaking Muslim voters.