Modi visits Assam, begins poll campaign

Assam awaits with batted breadth to hear from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he would be touring Barak Valley today, the epicenter of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

As Assam agog with the reaction and counter reaction following the constitution of a committee to implement the Clause VI of the Assam Accord, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make the visit a grand success.

Assam is witnessing an unprecedented week as on Monday the controversial Citizenship Amendment bill shall be placed before Lok Sabha. The Barak valley is largely supportive of the Bill and Brahmaputra Valley is dead against it

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to begin the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Assam from Silchar in Barak Valley on Friday, a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson said.

The rally is part of the first phase of the election campaign by PM Modi, the spokesperson said Thursday. This would be his second visit to Assam in a span of just 10 days. The prime minister had inaugurated the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge, Bogibeel bridge, on Christmas.

During his day-long visit to the Northeast, PM Modi will first visit Manipur, where he will inaugurate and lay foundation stone of various projects at a rally. Then, he is scheduled to address a rally at Kalinagar in Silchar area, BJP state president Ranjeet Dass said.

The BJP and its allies have set a target to win 21 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in eight states in the region. In Assam, they hope to win at least 11 of the 14 seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had made massive inroads in Assam, winning seven seats. In the 2016 Assembly election, it emerged as the single-largest party with 61 seats.