Kokrajhar ready to greet PM Modi, celebrate signing of Bodo

A festive atmosphere prevailed in Assam's Kokrajhar on Friday as people geared up to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will visit here later in the day to celebrate the signing of the Bodo agreement, officials said.

A large number of people from several organisations across various ethnic groups, including non-Bodos, assembled here to welcome the prime minister, they said.

Cultural troupes from different communities will greet PM Modi with their performances before his address.

"A new dawn, fresh vigour and renewed hope in Assam! The Bodo Accord will help the youth fulfill their aspirations," Modi had tweeted on Thursday night.

The Bodo Accord was signed on January 27 by the government with four factions of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and a civil society group, ending a three decade-long insurgency in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), now rechristened as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

PM Modi is scheduled to reach here by a helicopter from LGB Airport in Guwahati, where he will land from New Delhi around noon, officials said.

The security arrangements have been beefed up in and around Jangkhrithai field where PM Modi is scheduled to address the rally at 12.30 pm, officials said, adding that all vehicles have been stopped 1.5-km away from the venue.

Over ten lakh people are expected to participate in the rally, they said.

ABSU leaders said that more than 10,000 of their volunteers have assembled in Kokrajhar to take part in the ceremony which it is calling 'Bijoy Utsav'.

Kokrajhar wears a fresh look as the administration took initiatives to clean the town and repair roads.

The state government has declared a local public holiday on Friday for four districts of BTAD - Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa and Chirang - in view of the prime minister's visit.

On Thursday evening, people had lit one lakh earthen lamps in the town and prayed for peace in the region and the ABSU and NDFB had also organised a bike rally on the occasion.

A prayer was held at Bathou Thansali temple in Bagansali of the town.