GUWAHATI, June 10: Congratulating Narendra Modi on becoming India’s longest-serving Prime Minister on Wednesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his leadership has driven reform, expanded opportunity and shaped the country’s and Assam’s development journey in the last 12 years.
Modi, who completed 12 years in service as PM on May 26, on Wednesday surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru’s record of holding the longest continuous tenure by an elected Prime Minister.
The chief minister, in a five-page letter to the Prime Minister, conveyed the gratitude, affection and respect of the people of Assam.
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‘‘As you stand on the threshold of becoming the longest-serving Prime Minister in India’s history, it is with heartfelt congratulations and deep gratitude that I convey the sentiments of almost three and a half crore people of Assam whose relationship with Delhi has been transformed under your leadership,’’ he said.
Sarma claimed that for decades, generations in Assam lived with a quiet sense of distance and the North East was often seen only through the prism of remoteness, insurgency, floods and limitations, with many having resigned themselves to this reality.
‘‘Under your leadership, that reality changed. Assam was brought from the periphery to the centre. The North East became integral to India’s national imagination and a region long seen as distant found the confidence to believe it stood at the heart of the country’s future,’’ he added.
Sarma pointed out that when the PM described the eight states of the region as ‘Ashta Lakshmi’ (eight forms of the goddess of wealth), he transformed the vocabulary through which an entire region was viewed, defining the region not by challenges but by strengths.
‘‘When you declared that the North East (NE) would be the New Engine (NE) of growth for India, those words became a source of confidence for millions and a generation that had grown up hearing that development was a distant dream suddenly found itself believing that the future belonged to them,’’ he said.
When Assam became the first state to ratify the GST, the PM’s spontaneous response, “A for Assam”, was only three words, yet it touched countless hearts, Sarma said.
He said that Modi has visited the state 36 times during his 12 years as the PM, and each visit carried a message that ’’Assam matters, its people matter, its future matters.” (PTI)
