Bongaigaon, Feb. 10: Chilarai Divas celebrations today at Bongaigaon in lower Assam went off smoothly after chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal reached out to AKRSU (Pradip Ray faction), which had threatened to boycott the function.

As the student group did not get any response from the chief minister to its invitation for unveiling a statue of Bir Chilarai at its office at Bhakaribhita in the town here today, it had called to boycott the government-sponsored celebrations of Chilarai Divas at Gandhi Maidan here. But the chief minister intimated them in the last hour yesterday about his visit to the union's office for the occasion. Soon after, the student group and its sister organisations lifted the boycott and welcomed the chief minister, who unveiled the statue after concluding his programme at Gandhi Maidan.

At Gandhi Maidan, the chief minister conferred Bir Chilarai award posthumously on a CRPF jawan, Bolen Harijon of Sarbhog in Barpeta district. His wife, Barnali Harijan, received the award, which carries Rs 2 lakh and a citation.

In his 16-minute address, Sonowal called upon the people of the state to build an alien-free and pollution-free Assam as Bir Chilarai was a nature lover and a great hero who had unified all the cast and communities to make a greater Assamese nation. He had announced his government's plan of developing various projects and institutions in the name of Bir Chilarai in Bongaigaon district.

After coming from Kokrajhar, the chief minister had first unveiled a statue of Bhupen Hazarika and flagged off a toy train at the local eco park.

Minister Naba Kumar Doley and legislators Phani Bhusan Choudhury (Bongaigaon), Aswini Ray Sarkar (Golokganj), Ranjit Kumar Das (Sarbhog) and Deba Prasad Misra, director of cultural affairs, Assam, were present along with the chief minister.