PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Rs 4,000-crore new terminal of Guwahati’s Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport, which has been designed to reflect Assam’s natural heritage and cultural ethos. Touted as the country’s first “nature-themed airport”, the new terminal will be able to handle 13.1 million passengers per annum, officials said. The total cost of the project is Rs 5,000 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore earmarked specifically for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, they said. The project has been developed by Guwahati International Airport Ltd, with operations led by Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), they added. Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said the new terminal will serve as a catalyst for regional and industrial development, strengthening Guwahati’s role as an emerging economic gateway beyond its tourism potential. After the inauguration, Modi toured the new terminal.

 

He also examined the model of the airport, the Kaziranga-inspired landscape and other key aspects of the facility. The PM also interacted with the workers involved in the construction of the airport. The airport is named after Assam’s first Chief Minister, whose 80-ft statue was also unveiled by the PM. Modi said the airport will become a key aviation hub for Northeast India and a gateway to Southeast Asia. He said it will open up opportunities and give new meaning to development, along with the preservation of heritage. “Modern airport facilities and advanced connectivity infrastructure serve as gateways to new possibilities and opportunities for any state, and stand as pillars of growing confidence and trust among the people,” he said.

 

The new terminal, spread over an area of 1,40,000 sq m, draws inspiration from Assam’s rich biodiversity and cultural heritage. Modi said the new terminal will also allow a large number of tourists to visit Assam and make it easier for devotees to have ‘darshan’ of Goddess Kamakhya. The PM emphasised that the airport has been designed keeping in mind Assam’s nature and culture, with greenery inside and arrangements resembling an indoor forest. He highlighted the special use of bamboo in the construction, stating that it was an integral part of life in Assam, symbolising both strength and beauty. Modi also recalled that his Government in 2017 amended the Indian Forest Act, 1927, to reclassify bamboo grown in non-forest areas as a “grass”, instead of a “tree”. “This decision has led to the creation of a wonderful structure in the form of a new terminal today,” he said.

 

 

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee Government in West Bengal, comparing the situation in the State to Bihar’s past “lawlessness” and calling it a “maha jungle raj”. He also accused the Trinamool Congress of “corruption and nepotism” that prevented the state’s development. With the Assembly polls in West Bengal due in less than six months, Modi, while virtually addressing a massive gathering at Taherpur in Nadia district from Kolkata, referred to the NDA’s landslide victory in the recent Bihar Assembly elections, stating that the results in the neighbouring state will positively impact the party’s fortunes in the State. “The election results in Bihar have opened up the doors for BJP’s victory in West Bengal because, like I have said before, the Ganga flows into West Bengal through Bihar,” the PM said.

 

Modi urged the people to provide a chance to the BJP in the 2026 Assembly polls to form a “double engine Government” in the state, a term used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a State. Earlier in the day, dense fog at Taherpur prevented the Prime Minister’s helicopter from landing at the makeshift helipad and forced him to return to the Kolkata airport, from where he addressed the crowd-in-waiting over a virtual audio mode. “Let the TMC oppose me and the BJP as much as it wants, but I fail to understand why the ruling party is holding people to ransom, making them suffer and stopping West Bengal’s progress,” Modi said at the Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha, the fourth such meeting in the state this year.

 

The PM also claimed, “We will end TMC’s ‘maha jungle raj’ in West Bengal where corruption, nepotism and appeasement politics are ruling the roost.” Modi alleged that the culture of “cut money and commission” has stalled development in the state despite there being “no dearth of goodwill, planning and money” in store for the region, adding that welfare schemes worth thousands of crores are held up because of an “adverse state government”. “I want to go all out to usher development in West Bengal. Give the BJP a chance and bring a double-engine government here and witness how quickly we usher in development,” Modi said, sounding his party’s poll bugle for next year’s state elections. Claiming that the popular sentiment on West Bengal’s grassroots was to “gain freedom from TMC’s misrule”, Modi said, “The lanes and alleys of the state are resonating with the slogan ‘Banchte chai, BJP tai’ (Need BJP to live).” The PM addressed the crowd at the strategic Ranaghat area -- a stronghold of Matuas, a Hindu migrant community from Bangladesh -- amid growing apprehensions of disenfranchisement amongst the group post the publication of the SIR draft rolls. During his address, Modi invoked Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur, religious leaders and founders of the Matua sect, and hailed their contributions in the development of the community.

 

The PM greeted the crowd with ‘Joy Nitai’ slogan in acknowledgement of the 15th-century Bengali saint from the region and also stressed the contributions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, another Bhakti saint and son of the soil, both of whom are worshipped by Matuas. Referring to the infiltration issue, one of the BJP’s dominating poll agendas in the state, Modi hit out at the Trinamool Congress, alleging that “infiltrators enjoy TMC’s support and patronage in West Bengal”. “The TMC is opposing SIR to save infiltrators from getting identified. They have no love lost for the tortured refugees to whom we are trying to grant citizenship through the CAA. The TMC is spreading false narratives to scare them,” Modi told the crowd at the Bangladesh-bordering district. Speaking in the aftermath of the “Bankim da” controversy in Parliament, the PM reminisced about the creator of ‘Vande Mataram’, calling him “Rishi Bankim Babu”, and reminded the crowd about the ongoing 150-year celebrations of the National Song. The TMC countered the PM’s allegations, claiming Modi’s speech showed his “lack of concern” for the Matuas who have been facing uncertainties over deletion of names from the draft electoral rolls. “The PM never uttered a single word to allay the anxieties of Matuas, who fear loss of voting rights in the current SIR atmosphere. We are deeply disappointed,” said Mamata Bala Thakur, a TMC Rajya Sabha MP and a leader of the community.