Against the backdrop of protests on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and NRC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 in Guwahati on Friday. For the past few days, many organisations, including AASU, had threatened to stage demonstration against the Prime Minister if he visited Assam to inaugurate the games.

Assam BJP spokesman Dewan Dhruba Jyoti Maral first told the media the Prime Minister has cancelled the visit to the State. In the evening, the Sport Ministry officials confirmed that the Khelo India will be inaugurated jointly by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijju and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

An invitation was sent to the PMO to invite Modi to inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games but no confirmation on it has been received, BJP State unit spokesman Rupam Goswami told PTI on Wednesday.

“There is no talk about the Prime Minister coming to Guwahati to inaugurate Khelo India. Sending an invitation to the PM is a formality. We have not received any confirmation from the PMO to our invitation,” he said when asked whether Modi has cancelled his visit to Assam, which is witnessing protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.

On Tuesday, addressing a Press meet in New Delhi, All Assam Students Union (AASU) adviser Samujjal Bhattacharjee said, “We are happy that Khelo India is happening in Guwahati but if the Prime Minister attends it, we will hold a massive agitation.” There were slogans shouting against Chief Minister Sonowal during the ongoing cricket match in Guwahati.

The Khelo India Games was launched in 2018 to imbibe a culture of sports in the country. The third edition of the event is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 22.