Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Assam on Saturday for a two-day visit, during which he will inaugurate key infrastructure projects, interact with BJP workers ahead of the assembly elections, and address public meetings, officials said.

Modi unveiled an 80-foot statue of Assam’s first chief minister, Gopinath Bordoloi, sculpted by the late artist Ram Sutar, outside the newly renamed Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport terminal. Sutar, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 101, had also created the 125-foot statue of Ahom general Lachit Barphukan, which Modi unveiled in Jorhat in March 2024.

The Prime Minister then inaugurated the ₹4,000-crore new terminal and addressed a public gathering nearby. This was followed by a roadshow to the BJP state headquarters in Bashista, marking the first visit by a Prime Minister to a party office in Assam, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The interaction holds significance ahead of the assembly polls scheduled early next year.

Modi will stay overnight at the state guest house in Koinadhora, Khanapara.

On Sunday, his programme includes interacting with 25 meritorious students during the ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ aboard the Brahmaputra cruise ship ‘Charaideo’. He will also pay tribute at the newly built ‘Swahid Smarak Kshetra’, which honours 860 martyrs of the 1979-85 Assam Movement, including garlanding the statue of the first martyr, Khargeswar Talukdar.

Later, Modi will visit Dibrugarh and Namrup for the ‘bhumi pujan’ of a ₹12,000-crore ammonia-urea fertiliser plant, before addressing another public meeting and departing for New Delhi.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed the Prime Minister on X, saying, “A warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the land of Maa Kamakhya and Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev. Modi ji will usher in mega development initiatives for Assam and pay tributes to our brave martyrs.”