Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will initiate a process of building a political narrative for the BJP for next year’s Assam assembly elections when he visits the state on August 29, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi also scheduled to visit the state within 10 days of Shah’s tour, the BJP's Assam unit is working to ensure the success of the two trips, he said.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah will come on August 29 and inaugurate the newly constructed Raj Bhavan in Guwahati,” Sarma told reporters after attending a preparatory meeting at the BJP's state headquarters here on Friday evening for the two high-profile visits.
In the second engagement of the day, Shah will attend a convention of recently elected panchayat representatives of NDA, and later in the evening, he will be the chief guest at the birth centenary celebration of the state’s first non-Congress CM, Golap Borbora, Sarma added.
The chief minister maintained that Shah’s visit is of significance as state elections are six to seven months away.
“The speech by Amit Shah ji to the panchayat representatives will be an important one ahead of the elections. The process of political narrative building will definitely start from that day,” Sarma said.
The BJP and its allies will seek to form the government for the third successive term in the state in next year's assembly polls.
Sarma said PM Modi will commence his visit to the state on September 8 from Golaghat district, where he will dedicate to the nation the first bio-ethanol refinery in Numaligarh, set up at a cost of over Rs 4,000 crore.
He will then travel to Mangaldai and lay the foundation stones for three projects – the Guwahati Ring Road, a bridge over the Brahmaputra river between Narengi and Kuruwa and the Mangaldai medical college and hospital.
The prime minister will inaugurate the birth centenary celebration of Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika at a programme in Guwahati later in the evening, Sarma added.
Though all the programmes of the PM and Shah, except the panchayat representatives’ meet, are government ones, the BJP is working to ensure the success of all the events, he said.
“All BJP MPs, MLAs, and district leaderships are meeting here to ensure that the visits are successful,” Sarma said.
State BJP president Dilip Saikia, in a post on X after the meeting, urged all party workers to ensure the success of the two visits.
“A preparatory meeting was held today at the State HQ ahead of the Panchayat Pratinidhi Sammelan to be graced by Hon’ble Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji on 29th August,” he said.
The chief minister reviewed arrangements for the convention and the upcoming visit of the prime minister, he said.
“We urged MPs, MLAs, and organising committees to work actively for the programme’s grand success,” Saikia added.