APCC alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct by Prime Minister & PMO

Guwahati: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Wednesday lambasting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to inaugurate the Bogibeel bridge on December 25, moved the Assam Election Commission against the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Office for trying to influence the people of Assam by violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Despite knowing the fact that Model Code of Conduct was clamped in the state during the first phase of the Panchayat Elections, Prime Minister's office had announced his visit in the state.

APCC further claimed that the BJP party is also trying to influence the people during the Panchayat Polls.

General Secretary of the APCC, Rajiv Bora in the press statement had appealed before the Election Commission to take necessary action against the Prime Minister's office.

It may be mentioned that the Bogibeel Bridge is India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, connecting the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra, falling in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, a senior railway official said.

The bridge is measured as 4.94 km long and was first initiated in April 2002 with former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurating the construction. In fact, even before that, the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had laid the foundation stone of the bridge in January 1997.

An official report states, “The Prime Minister will inaugurate the bridge on December 25 which is also marked by the government as Good Governance Day.”

The time taken for the completion of the bridge recorded to be pretty long since the first laying of the foundation stone to finally inaugurating it in 2018. Several deadlines have been fixed and even missed over the past 16 years and finally, the first freight train ran on it on December 3 and it was a success.

The Bogibeel Bridge project is a part of infrastructure projects planned by India to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. This project also includes construction of a trans-Arunachal highway which is to be placed on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, then a new road and rail links over the mighty river. Bridges over the major tributaries like Dibang, Lohit, Subansiri and Kameng is also included in the project.