Modi expresses gratitude to Gogoi for Land Bill support

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his gratitude to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for all his “support and cooperation” in getting the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh passed in Parliament.
Modi called Gogoi and thanked him for extending all support and cooperation in getting the historic India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement passed in Parliament, according to an official release.
“Your support and cooperation helped us in passing the Bill easily in Parliament,” Modi said during the telephonic conversation with Gogoi.
Quoting Modi, the statement said the Prime Minister opined that the passing of the Bill made an end to a 41-year- old issue between the two countries.
Parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a historic bill to operationalise the LBA that provides for exchange of territories.
The Lok Sabha, showing rare unanimity, passed the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill to allow the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary agreement.
BJP MP accuses Assam CM of U-turn
Earlier, the bonhomie among Lok Sabha members while discussing the Bangladesh Land Border agreement was shattered briefly when a BJP MP accused the Assam Chief Minister of taking a U-turn on the agreement reached with Dhaka.
Ram Prasad Sarmah said while he supports the bill, he wants the interests of minorities in Bangladesh to be protected.
He said when the indigenous people in Assam had opposed the bill, BJP was part of it. But keeping in mind the national interest, the Narendra Modi government is now supporting the legislation.
He accused Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi of making a U-turn while earlier agreeing to include Assam territories in the bill.
Congress members Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev shot back accusing BJP of taking a U-turn on the issue. (PTI)