File picture of Priya Dutt paying tribute to her father Sunil Dutt in Mumbai (PTI)

Guwahati, Feb. 3: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who will kickstart the party?s poll campaign in Assam by addressing a public rally in Barpeta on February 11, will give away the first Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed award in Guwahati the same day.

Deba Kumar Bora, press advisor to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, said actor-turned-parliamentarian Su-nil Dutt would be conferred the award posthumously for his contribution towards nation-building and national integration.

?The Congress president will give away the award and family members of the noted parliamentarian, who was a symbol of communal harmony, will receive the award. A meeting in this connection was chaired by the chief minister this evening,? Bora said.

Indications are that Priya Dutt, who succeeded her late father as Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai, will receive the award on behalf of the family, which also includes actor Sanjay Dutt.

Sunil Dutt passed away on May 25 last year while in office as the Union minister of state for sports.

Before the award presentation ceremony, Gandhi will visit Barpeta to lay the foundation stone of the proposed medical college hospital there. The hospital has been named after the former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who held office from August 24, 1974, to February 1, 1977.

Besides attending functions to commemorate the late President, Gandhi will also take time off to inaugurate the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex in Amingaon here.

The visit assumes significance because the rally has been held in the stronghold of veteran Congress parliamentarian Golam Osmani, who has threatened to quit the party?s membership over differences with the state leadership.

?The visit is aimed at killing two birds with one stone. It will assuage the feelings of the minority community, which has a sizeable presence in Barpeta, and at the same time satisfy Osmani as the high command is choosing his constituency to hold the rally,? a PCC official said. The PCC is meeting tomorrow to take stock of the preparations for Sonia Gandhi?s visit.

Bora said the foundation-laying function of the hospital would bring to an end the yearlong birth centenary celebrations of the former President. ?February 11 also happens to be the former President?s death anniversary,? Bora said, adding that the Centre, on the request of the state government, has decided to hold nationwide birth centenary celebrations of the former President.