Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-day visit to Assam from December 20, an event Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described as “significant, symbolic and substantial” for the state. Sarma made the remarks on December 18 after reviewing arrangements at the state BJP headquarters in Guwahati.
The chief minister emphasised that the Prime Minister’s visit should not be viewed through an electoral lens, even though Assam is headed for Assembly elections early next year. He said Modi’s engagements reflect his role as the country’s leader and carry wider importance for Assam’s development and cultural recognition.
Modi is scheduled to arrive in Guwahati on Saturday afternoon. His first programme will be the unveiling of an 80-foot statue of former Assam chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi, a Congress leader who later received the Bharat Ratna during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the newly constructed Rs 4,000-crore terminal at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and address a public gathering at the airport premises.
From the airport, Modi will lead a roadshow to the BJP headquarters at Bashishta, where he will interact with party workers. Sarma noted that this will mark the first-ever visit by a serving Prime Minister to a BJP office in Assam, calling it a historic moment for the party in the state.
The Prime Minister will spend the night at the state guest house in Koinadhora, Khanapara. On Sunday, he will participate in an interactive session with 25 meritorious students under the ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ initiative. The interaction will take place aboard the cruise vessel Charaideo on the Brahmaputra river. Recalling Modi’s fondness for the river, Sarma said a similar river-based programme planned during the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister years ago had to be dropped.
Sarma expressed confidence that Modi’s cruise on the Brahmaputra would give a boost to river tourism, drawing parallels with the surge in visitors to Kaziranga following the Prime Minister’s earlier visit there.
Later in the day, Modi will visit the Swahid Smarak Kshetra, a memorial dedicated to the 860 martyrs of the Assam Movement. He will then travel to Dibrugarh and proceed to Namrup, where he will lay the foundation stone of the Rs 12,000-crore ammonia-urea fertiliser plant. The chief minister described the project as a major driver of Assam’s industrial and economic growth. Modi will also address a public meeting in Namrup before concluding his Assam tour and returning to New Delhi.