GUWAHATI
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Guwahati on Tuesday evening, ahead of his election rallies in Assam and Tripura on Wednesday.
Thousands of people lined up on both sides of the arterial Guwahati-Shillong Road for the roadshow that started from a point near the headquarters of the State Congress party.
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People followed the Prime Minister waving the BJP’s flag as he waved at the crowd, standing on the running board of his vehicle.
Mr. Modi landed at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport around 7 p.m. from West Bengal. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other senior BJP leaders received him.
The Prime Minister will spend the night at a VVIP guest house in Guwahati and take part in a rally for Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate Phani Bhushan Choudhury, who is contesting the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. The AGP is an ally of the BJP in Assam.
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Mr. Modi’s next stop will be Tripura’s capital Agartala, where he is scheduled to address a rally for former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, the BJP candidate from the Tripura West Parliamentary seat.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took part in another roadshow in eastern Assam’s Titaor falling under the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat to seek votes for party candidate Gaurav Gogoi.
Enthusiastic people lined up on both sides of the road as her vehicle passed by.
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Addressing a crowd, she said the daily wages of Assam’s tea plantation workers would be hiked if the Congress-led Opposition alliance is voted to power.
“When I came to Assam two or three years ago, I promised that your wages will be hiked if Congress returns to power. You chose the BJP and your wages were not raised from around ₹250. Let me tell you again, we will raise your wages if we form the government at the Centre,” she said.
The Jorhat seat has sizeable Adivasi or “tea tribes” voters. Assam has 14 seats which will go to the polls in the first three phases.