It was a historic moment for the people of Assam’s river island Majuli when the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal decided to represent the constituency and won with a huge margin.
As Sonowal is all set to be sworn-in as the first BJP Chief Minister of Assam on Tuesday, preparations are afoot for his victory trip to his home constituency Majuli island in the mighty Brahmaputra River.
However, the date for Sonowal’s visit to Majuli is yet to be fixed. Sonowal had visited Majuli on the day of counting on May 19 and left for Guwahati the same day.
Though they don’t know yet when their State hero Sonowal will return to meet them, the people of the river island are busy planning a grand and unique welcome for their Chief Minister whenever he visits.
The new Chief Minister will be ferried to the island in a manikanchan nowka (meaning a golden ferry bedecked with jewels in Assamese) and preparations are on to refurbish the boat and give a new look to the ferry ghats in Jorhat and Majuli.
“Work is on to renovate the ferry which we have taken from the Inland Water Transport Department. The ferry can carry two vehicles and over 150 people.
The ferry is being fitted with air-conditioners to make the Chief Minister’s journey comfortable and there will also be a cabin and an open terrace on it,” said Nitul Nath, a senior BJP leader of Majuli.
“The Jorhat district administration, as well as the Inland Water Transport Department have also been renovating the ferry ghats at Majuli and at the Neematighat in Jorhat district, from where one has to board a ferry to reach Majuli,” Nath said, adding that the people of Majuli want to give a red carpet welcome to Sonowal whenever he has the opportunity to visit his constituency.
He said that apart from the manikanchan nowka, several other ferries will also be kept ready to facilitate the visit of those people who will visit the island along with the Chief Minister.
Sonowal is the first Chief Minister-designate of Assam to have contested from the river island. Sonowal, who hails from the sleepy, riverine town of Molokgaon in the upper Assam district of Dibrugarh, defeated his nearest Congress rival with a safe margin of over 18,000 votes.
located in the middle of the mighty Brahmaputra River, Majuli is one of Asia’s largest freshwater islands and it is the centre of neo-Vaishnavite culture propagated by 15th century saint scholar Srimanta Sankardev.
Incidentally, Majuli is connected to the nearest district headquarters Jorhat through ferries only. In February this year, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of a bridge over the Brahmaputra River to connect Jorhat and lakhimpur via Majuli.
Erosion is one of the biggest concerns for Majuli that is inhabited by a mere 1.60 lakh people. According to accounts in ancient scriptures, the island had a total area of 1,250 sq km. However, due to massive erosion every year, the island lost vast amounts of land and has now been reduced to an area of just 352 sq km.