Guwahati, May 23: The stage is set and the city has dressed up to witness Khanapara playground script history tomorrow. At 4.30pm, a BJP-led government, led by Sarbananda Sonowal, will take oath in Assam for the first time.
Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu said nearly one lakh people from across the state are expected to witness their representatives take the pledge to serve them for the next five years in a grand ceremony graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
There will be over 500 VVIPs and VIPs, including BJP national president Amit Shah, the chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, around 30 central ministers, over 100 spiritual or religious leaders, including yoga gurus Ramdev and Ravi Shankar.
Veteran BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are expected to be present. Outgoing chief minister Tarun Gogoi will also attend the ceremony. Last evening, Sonowal had met Gogoi at the latter's official residence at Koinadhara and invited him to the ceremony.
The last time such an event was held outside Raj Bhavan was in 1985 at Nehru Stadium when the AGP came to power for the first time riding on the promise of a "Bangladeshi-free Assam".
Three decades later, the BJP, like its ally, the AGP, has came to power for the first time with the same promise.
"Tomorrow will be a joyful day for Assam. We are expecting a large number of people to witness the historic moment. For the first time, a BJP government will be formed in Assam. This is important for us not only electorally but also from the ideological point of view as we see the Northeast as a part of akhand Bharat (united India)," BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to land at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport from where he will be taken to Sarusajai stadium in a helicopter. From there he will travel 6km to Khanapara playground in a car.
Party flags pinned to streetlights and pasted on the walls, as well as posters displaying the visages of Modi, Shah and Sonowal, among others, will greet him on the way. Bihu scenes have been engraved on the stage where the swearing-in will take place.
The BMW meant to ferry Modi for the swearing-in met with an accident during a mock drill today, hitting another car of the convoy. Traffic police sources said the car will not be used tomorrow.
Angamuthu said about 5,000 security personnel will guard the Khanapara playground. CCTV cameras have also been installed.
"Cultural programmes depicting the culture and tradition of Assam will also be held at the venue," he added.
A BJP source said the xatradhikars (heads of Vaishnavite monasteries) have been invited to the ceremony. Majuli, Sonowal's constituency, is agog with excitement. Not only have several xatradhikars been invited to the swearing-in, many party workers and supporters have also gone to the capital on their own to be a part of the celebrations.
Hem Chandra Doley, social worker and vice-president of Scheduled Tribe Morcha, said party workers had started arriving in Guwahati.
"As this is a government function, the party could not provide communication facilities and accommodation for the 300 party workers who had planned to come. Most of the passes have been given to non-BJP and apolitical invitees like the xatradhikars. Only one pass each has been given to the president and secretaries of the 36 district committees and to the heads of the state committee. Four gates will remain open for the public to come and view the proceedings," he added.
Around 350 rooms have been booked in hotels and guesthouses in Guwahati for the dignitaries.
Punya Saikia, a resident of Majuli, said: "Expectations from Sonowal are very high and there can be nothing better for Majuli than having the chief minister represent us."
In New Delhi today, Sonowal said Assamese people will get their due rights when illegal migrants are identified and driven out of the state.
He said development, good governance and security are key issues on which the BJP was voted to power. "When the Modi government reached the land settlement with Bangladesh, it was made clear that the border between the two countries will be sealed. It implies that the illegal movement across the border will be stopped. This will preserve the self-respect of a common Assamese."
Asked what his priorities are, he said, "Firstly, we have to identify the infiltrators."
Additional reporting by Smita Bhattacharyya in Jorhat
