Amit Shah, JP Nadda to visit Assam from Friday

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accompanied by BJP president JP Nadda, will be on a three-day tour to Assam from Friday where the two leaders will inaugurate the new state office of the party, officials said.

Both leaders will arrive in Guwahati on Friday evening. Nadda will leave on Saturday evening after attending a couple of meetings, while Shah will depart from the state on Sunday evening following several official engagements.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha is set to join his counterparts from other northeastern states in a meeting convened by Shah in Guwahati on Saturday to discuss ways to fight the drug menace in the region, a senior official said in Agartala. The state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Amitabh Ranjan will accompany Saha to the meeting in the Assam capital.

The Tripura CM will leave for Guwahati on Friday, the state secretariat official stated.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, BJP Assam president Bhabesh Kalita said, ”Nadda and Shah will reach here on Friday around 4 pm. After that, they will attend a meeting of the party’s core committee.” On Saturday, the two leaders will inaugurate BJP’s new state office on National Highway-27 at Basistha Chariali area in presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Shipping, Ports and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, he added.

”After the function, the leaders will address a rally of BJP booth workers at Veterinary College Playground in Khanapara. We expect around 40,000-45,000 booth workers to attend the rally,” Kalita said.

Though the BJP state unit chief did not mention their other programmes, official sources told PTI that Nadda will leave Assam on Saturday evening.

Shah will stay back and attend a series of official meetings on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, scheduled to take place at Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati, a source said.

On Sunday afternoon, he will visit the Police Training College at Dergaon in Golaghat district to attend the conference of the superintendents of police of the state, another source at Assam Police said.

The home minister will depart from Assam on Sunday evening from the Jorhat airport, he added. Meanwhile, Union minister Pratima Bhoumik on Thursday held a meeting in Agartala with officials of home and sports departments to prepare a roadmap for engaging youth, especially those with a history of substance abuse, in sporting activities, as part of the measures to check the use of drugs in the state.

”Today, at the meeting, it was decided that sports events will be arranged in the state to bring addicts back to the mainstream. An action plan will be chalked out soon,” Subikash Debbarma, the director of youth affairs and sports, told PTI.

As many as 48 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were registered in the state in September alone, with 76 people arrested, according to Tripura Police records. The sports campaign will cover all blocks and sub-divisions of the state, he said, adding that the Centre would fund the programme seeking to make Tripura a ”drug-free state”. (PTI)