Guwahati : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Assam from December 20 will be “significant, symbolic and substantial” for the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday after reviewing preparations at the state BJP headquarters in Guwahati.

Sarma said the Prime Minister’s visit should not be viewed through an electoral lens, even though Assembly elections are due early next year. “We do not want to link the Prime Minister’s visit to election politics as he has been elected to run the nation. But his programmes in the state are very significant and symbolic,” he told reporters.

Modi will arrive in Guwahati on Saturday afternoon and begin his engagements by unveiling an 80-foot statue of former chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi. Bordoloi, a Congress leader, was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the new ?4,000-crore terminal of the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and address a public gathering outside the terminal complex.

A roadshow to the BJP headquarters at Bashishta will follow, where Modi will interact with party workers. “This is the first time that a Prime Minister will visit a BJP office in the state, and it is a historic occasion for us,” Sarma said.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to stay overnight at the state guest house in Koinadhora, Khanapara. On Sunday, he will hold an interactive session with 25 meritorious students under the ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ initiative aboard the cruise vessel Charaideo on the Brahmaputra.

“The Prime Minister has a weakness for the River Brahmaputra,” Sarma said, recalling that a similar plan during the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister several years ago had to be cancelled. He added that Modi’s river cruise is expected to give a boost to river tourism, similar to the surge in tourist arrivals seen after the Prime Minister’s visit to Kaziranga.

Later in the day, Modi will pay homage at the newly constructed Swahid Smarak Kshetra, dedicated to the 860 martyrs of the Assam Movement. He will then travel to Dibrugarh and Namrup.

The Prime Minister’s final engagement will be the foundation-laying ceremony of the ?12,000-crore ammonia-urea fertiliser plant at Namrup. Describing the project as a major boost to the state’s economy, Sarma said it would provide a “substantial impetus to Assam’s growth and development.” Modi is also scheduled to address a public meeting at Namrup before returning to New Delhi.