Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday announced that the state cabinet has approved renaming the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, widely known as the Sarusajai Sports Complex, to the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex.
This key decision emerged from the state cabinet meeting held in Guwahati on Wednesday.
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Addressing media persons after the cabinet meeting, CM Sarma confirmed the renaming, honoring Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah, a renowned Assamese former-athlete and coach, best known as the first Assamese to win a gold medal at an international event (800-meter race at the 1966 Asian Games).
In 2007, authorities originally built the stadium, a prominent multi-purpose facility situated in Lokhra, Guwahati, to host the 33rd National Games of India.
Later, the authorities named the stadium as Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in tribute to the late Indira Gandhi, India’s third Prime Minister.
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CM Sarma further stated that in addition to the Sarusajai Sports Complex, the cabinet also approved several other significant renamings and initiatives, including the renaming of the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) to Golap Borbora State Institute of Panchayat & Rural Development, Assam as a tribute to the birth centenary of Gulap Borbora.
CM Sarma asserted that the state will also rename Darrang District Stadium in Mangaldoi, Assam, to Raja Dharma Narayan Stadium.
He added that the cabinet has also approved the initiative for the establishment of a 900 MW power plant by Greenko Energy in Karbi Anglong.
Notably, this isn’t the first time the BJP-led Assam government, under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has undertaken a renaming initiative.
The BJP-led Assam government under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in 2021 renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang and Sonitpur districts as Orang National Park, making this the third identity change for the wildlife sanctuary since it was notified in 1915 as a protected habitat.
Prior to 1985, it was known as the Orang Game Reserve, before the then Congress government renamed it the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary.