Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo Credit: Twitter: ANI)
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a public rally at Assam’s Boro dominated district Kokrakhar. The public meeting was attended by governor Jagdish Mukhi, state Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and others. During his address, PM Modi said that all communities in Assam has won with the signing of Bodo peace accord. This was Modi’s first rally in Assam after the state witnessed massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
1. Today marks a new dawn, a new beginning and new inspirations for Assam as well as the entire Northeast,' says PM Narendra Modi.
2. All communities have won with signing of Bodo peace accord: PM Modi at rally in Assam's Kokrajhar
3. North East was under AFSPA for a long time but now Tripura and many parts of other states are free from it: PM Modi at rally to celebrate Bodo peace accord
4. I am here to assure all in Assam, that anti-Assam and anti-national mentality will not be tolerated and forgiven by country. Some powers are spreading rumours in Northeast that people from outside will come and settle here due to CAA. I want to assure that no such thing will happen: PM Modi
5. 'All-round development of the region has played a very big role in turning feelings of separation into feelings of attachment,' says PM Modi
Earlier, a festive atmosphere prevailed in Assam’s Kokrajhar as people geared up to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A large number of people from several organisations across various ethnic groups, including non-Bodos, assembled here to welcome the prime minister.
Cultural troupes from different communities will greet PM Modi with their performances before his address. “A new dawn, fresh vigour and renewed hope in Assam! The Bodo Accord will help the youth fulfill their aspirations,” Modi had tweeted on Thursday night.
The Bodo Accord was signed on January 27 by the government with four factions of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and a civil society group, ending a three decade-long insurgency in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), now rechristened as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). PM Modi is scheduled to reach here by a helicopter from LGB Airport in Guwahati, where he will land from New Delhi around noon, officials said.
Also Read: 'Look Forward To Being In Assam', Tweets PM Modi Ahead Of His Visit To Northeast State
The security arrangements have been beefed up in and around Jangkhrithai field where PM Modi is scheduled to address the rally at 12.30 pm, officials said, adding that all vehicles have been stopped 1.5-km away from the venue. Over ten lakh people are expected to participate in the rally, they said.
ABSU leaders said that more than 10,000 of their volunteers have assembled in Kokrajhar to take part in the ceremony which it is calling ‘Bijoy Utsav’. Kokrajhar wears a fresh look as the administration took initiatives to clean the town and repair roads.
The state government has declared a local public holiday on Friday for four districts of BTAD - Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa and Chirang - in view of the prime minister’s visit. On Thursday evening, people had lit one lakh earthen lamps in the town and prayed for peace in the region and the ABSU and NDFB had also organised a bike rally on the occasion. A prayer was held at Bathou Thansali temple in Bagansali of the town.
