After Modi, Shah to anchor BJP’s Assam pitch in spiritual, cultural identities | Guwahati News

Guwahati: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Assam last week ignited the poll atmosphere — striking at the heart of the state’s battle to protect its identity against infiltration from Bangladesh — Union home minister Amit Shah’s two-day tour beginning Sunday aims to pivot the narrative around state’s spiritual and cultural heritage, the BJP’s cornerstones in its electoral pitch.Shah will begin his tour with the inauguration of the Rs 200 crore Batadrava Cultural Project in Nagaon, redeveloping the birthplace of 15th-century Vaishnav saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva into a global spiritual hub.The site had long been affected by encroachments by Bangladesh-origin Muslims, and in Dec 2022, the Assam govt launched a major eviction drive to clear nearly 1,000 bighas of land (about 1.35 sq km) around Batadrava Than, restoring the sanctity of the revered site ahead of its redevelopment.CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had then described the effort as: “Batadrava Than, freed from encroachments, is now a shining example of what steely resolve can do for the protection of our heritage.”Shah will also inaugurate the Jyoti Bishnu Cultural Complex in Guwahati, a state-of-the-art auditorium with a seating capacity of 5,000, named after Assamese cultural icons Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and Bishnu Prasad Rabha.In addition, he will inaugurate a new building of the Guwahati Police Commissionerate and an Integrated Command and Control System (ICCS) to strengthen the city’s security.The ICCS, according to CM Sarma, will monitor more than 2,000 CCTV cameras across Guwahati, providing a major boost to surveillance, emergency response, and public safety. Shah is expected to arrive in Guwahati on Sunday night.Earlier, on Dec 20, at a public rally in Guwahati, Modi attacked Congress, accusing it of nearly conspiring with the Muslim League and the British before Independence to make Assam part of undivided Bengal — effectively East Pakistan. He said Assam’s first chief minister, Gopinath Bordoloi of Congress, defied his own party to protect Assam’s identity and keep it within India. Modi also unveiled an 80-foot statue of Bordoloi, calling him the “saviour of the state”.The next day, Modi paid tribute to the martyrs of Assam’s anti-foreigner movement at Swahid Smarak Kshetra in Guwahati — a first by any Prime Minister. Shah is also scheduled to pay homage to the martyrs here on Monday before leaving for Batadrava.Later, Modi travelled to Namrup in Dibrugarh, where he performed Bhoomi Pujan for the Rs 10,600 crore brownfield ammonia-urea project of Assam Valley Fertilizer and Chemical Company Ltd.