PM on two-day visit to West Bengal, Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to West Bengal and Assam beginning Saturday, during which he will inaugurate and also lay the foundation stones of several development projects.

On Saturday morning, the prime minister will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate national highway projects worth Rs 3,200 crore at Ranaghat in West Bengal’s Nadia district and also address the gathering on the occasion.

Modi will inaugurate a 66.7-km four-laning of the Barajaguli-Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in Nadia district. He will also lay the foundation stone for the four-laning of the 17.6-km Barasat-Barajaguli section of the highway from the North 24 Parganas district. These projects, once complete, will enhance connectivity between Kolkata and Siliguri.

On Saturday afternoon, the prime minister will walk through and inaugurate the New Terminal Building of Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Assam’s Guwahati and address the gathering.

The next day, PM Modi will pay tribute to martyrs at Swahid Smarak Kshetra in Boragaon, Guwahati. Later, he will travel to Namrup in Dibrugarh, Assam, to perform Bhoomi Pujan for the ammonia-urea project of Assam Valley Fertiliser and Chemical Company Ltd and address the gathering.

The new terminal building of Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati marks a transformative milestone in Assam’s connectivity, economic expansion and global engagement, an official statement said.

The newly completed Integrated New Terminal Building, spread over nearly 1.4 lakh square metres, is designed to handle up to 1.3 crore passengers annually, supported by major upgrades to the runway, airfield systems, aprons and taxiways, it said.

India’s first nature-themed airport terminal, the airport’s design draws inspiration from Assam’s biodiversity and cultural heritage under the theme “Bamboo Orchids”.

The terminal makes pioneering use of about 140 metric tonnes of locally sourced Northeast bamboo, complemented by Kaziranga-inspired green landscapes, japi motifs, the iconic rhino symbol and 57 orchid-inspired columns reflecting the Kopou flower.

A unique “Sky Forest”, featuring nearly one lakh plants of indigenous species, offers arriving passengers an immersive, forest-like experience.

PM Modi is expected to land at Guwahati airport around 2.30 pm, following which he will unveil an 80-foot statue of Assam’s first chief minister, Gopinath Bordoloi, outside the new terminal named after him, as per the itinerary.

He will also inaugurate the Rs 4,000 crore new terminal and spend around 15 minutes inside.

“Excitement at its peak! LGBI Airport’s Integrated Terminal is all decked up to welcome Adarniya @narendramodi ji tomorrow! Just a few hours to go!” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X.

The Prime Minister will also address a public meeting outside the terminal building.

After the meeting, Modi will proceed on a road show towards the BJP headquarters in the Bashista area, where he will interact with party workers.

Sarma claimed that this is the first time that a prime minister will visit a BJP office in the state and it is a historic occasion for the party.

On Sunday morning, the prime minister will interact with 25 meritorious students of different schools in the ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ programme for around half an hour while sailing on the River Brahmaputra aboard the cruise ship ‘Charaideo’.

After the cruise, Modi will visit the newly constructed ‘Swahid Smarak Kshetra’, constructed in the memory of 860 ‘martyrs’ of the Assam movement against illegal infiltrators, and offer his tributes before the lamp which always remains lit.

The PM will also visit the martyrs’ gallery, where the busts of the 860 people who lost their lives in the movement have been erected, and garland the statue of the first deceased, Khargeswar Talukdar.  He will then leave for Dibrugarh and from there to Namrup, where he will conduct ‘Bhumi Pujan’ of the Rs 12,000 crore ammonia-urea fertiliser plant.

The PM will also address a public meeting at Namrup before leaving for New Delhi.

Chief Secretary Ravi Kota chaired a high-level preparatory meeting on Thursday evening to review arrangements for the PM’s visit with senior officers of the state government and representatives of stakeholder departments concerned.

“Reviewed preparations related to security, traffic and crowd management, parking, venue readiness, medical and emergency services, power and communication backup, sanitation, and inter-departmental coordination, including arrangements at arrival points, terminal access gates, ceremonial areas, and movement corridors,” the chief secretary posted on X.

Kota directed all departments and agencies concerned to ensure seamless coordination and timely execution of the approved programme.