Amid an unending controversy over the name of the bridge, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today visited Bogibeel bridge over Brahmaputra River in Assam that is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.
Sonowal visited both the ends of the bridge at Dhemaji and Dibrugarh this morning and supervised the preparation for the programme tomorrow, where the Prime Minister will also address massive public rally.
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The Chief Minister also held meetings with the top brass of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in Dhemaji and Dibrugarh and with the administrations of both the districts.
The 4.94 kms-long bridge was put under tight security over the scheduled programme by the Prime Minister. Huge numbers of people from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are expected to participate in the inauguration programme.
While the bridge is set to be inaugurated tomorrow, the issue of naming the bridge is still mired in controversy. Different organisations and communities of the state are demanding to name the bridge after the icons of the respective communities, making it a difficult choice for the BJP-led governments at Delhi and Dispur.
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While Ahom organisations are demanding to name the bridge after the founder of Ahom dynasty, Chaolung Sukaphaa, Chutia community organisations have demanded it to be named after brave Queen of the community, Birangana (brave heart) Sati Sadhani.
Mising community, however, demanded the government to name the bridge after Mising Icon, Kamala Miri while the Deuris want the government to name the bridge after Bhimbor Deuri. Similarly, the anti-talk faction of ULFA has demanded to name the bridge as ‘Bishnu Jyoti Setu’, after late cultural icons of the state Bishnu Rabha and Jyoti Prasad Agarwala.
The BJP legislator from Dibrugarh, Prashanta Phukan on the other hand has demanded the bridge be called ‘Atal Setu’ after former Prime Minister Late Atal Behari Vajpayee, who had inaugurated the construction of the bridge in 2002 and taken steps to complete the project.