GUWAHATI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Assam on a two-day visit during which he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for projects worth nearly Rs 18,000 crore. The PM, who landed at Salnibari near Tezpur airport in a special flight, was received by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
Modi will become the first Prime Minister to visit Kaziranga and explore it after it was upgraded to a national park in 1974. He took a chopper to go to Panbari in Golaghat district. From there, he went to the one-horned rhino fame Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve by road. People lined up on both sides of the road and the PM waved at them.
“As Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji reaches Kaziranga National Park, #ModiParivarAssam comes out in large numbers to welcome their very own family member to the World Heritage Site,” Sarma wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a video. The Chief Minister’s Office said the PM would spend the night at the World Heritage Site and explore its beauty on Saturday morning. He is expected to spend around two hours inside the park in the morning before leaving for Jorhat, which adjoins Golaghat district.
Talking about the PM’s programme on Saturday, Sarma said, “The Rs 3,992 crore Barauni-Guwahati pipeline is a historic feat in enhancing India’s energy security as it connects Northeast to the National Gas Grid. Along with this, PM will commission two other projects to augment India’s pumping and refining capacity.”
Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several petroleum projects. Later in the day, he will leave Jorhat for Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar where, among others, he will dedicate the world’s longest two-lane Sela tunnel to the nation. The Border Roads Organisation built it at an altitude of above 13,000 feet. After attending the programme in Itanagar, he will return to Jorhat and unveil the 125-ft tall statue of Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
The PM’s visit followed protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) by the members of All Assam Students’ Union. The protests returned to the state following Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent statement that the contentious Act would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.
Assam visit after protest against CAA
The PM’s visit followed protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) by the members of All Assam Students’ Union. The protests returned to the state following home minister Amit Shah’s statement that the Act would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.