Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Assam, Arunachal, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to unveil a series of projects. Starting with Assam, on his second day in the state Modi will visit the Kaziranga National Park and unveil the 84-foot tall statue of Lachit Borphukan, a general in the Ahom Kingdom, in another example of Modi and the BJP celebrating regional icons in recent years. The PM will also lay the foundation stones of several healthcare, housing, energy and road projects, with a total outlay of Rs 18,000 crore. However, Modi’s Assam visit comes amid reports that the Centre will notify the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed in Parliament in 2019, before the Lok Sabha polls are announced. Through Friday and Saturday, Opposition parties and student groups are intensifying their protests against the CAA, which is viewed in the state as diluting Assamese identity. In context: The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence here. On Friday, the United Opposition Forum Assam (UOFA), comprising 16 parties, staged a sit-in and the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 other organisations lit lamps in memory of those who died during the anti-CAA movement in the state in 2019. On Saturday, the AASU has planned a 12-hour fast in all districts. It remains to be seen if the anti-CAA sentiments will carry weight in the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign for Assam, where the party won 9 of 14 seats in 2019. PM in Arunachal, Bengal, and UP Later on Saturday, Modi will head to Arunachal Pradesh to attend a “Viksit Bharat Viksit North East” event and inaugurate the Sela Tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang bordering China. He will also inaugurate or dedicate to the nation development projects worth Rs 55,600 crore across six Northeast states. Modi will then return to West Bengal, his third visit to the state this month and second in as many weeks, to unveil infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,500 crore in Siliguri and address a BJP rally. In the evening, the PM will head to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where he will visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Maha Vikas Aghadi meet on seat sharing Amid reports of a seat-sharing agreement between Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention, a meeting of Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders from the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP to finalise a Lok Sabha seat-sharing formula is scheduled for Saturday. According to Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, the previous round of talks held on Wednesday were “positive”. However, a potential spanner in the works is Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar who has kept the Opposition parties guessing and demanded 12 seats – a proposal the others are unlikely to accept. The meeting comes a day after the Congress, the leader of the Opposition INDIA bloc, announced its first list of 39 candidates across eight states and one Union Territory. Also today: Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra continues its Gujarat leg on Saturday, passing through the districts of Chhotaudepur, Bharuch, and Surat. However, the yatra was received by a battered state unit, which has seen several high-profile exits recently. The biggest blow was losing Arjun Modhwadia, a three-time MLA from Porbandar, who had served as Leader of the Opposition and the party’s state chief. He joined the BJP a day after quitting. – With PTI inputs
