Guwahati: In what may be called a move to win over Northeast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday not only tried his hand on drum with folk artists but also interacted with folk dancers at Mawphlang village in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
Mawphlang a village about 25 KM from Shillong is famous for the rich bio diversity abundant with plants, flowering trees, orchids and butterflies -an ideal destination for nature lovers.
Prime Minister who was here to attend the plenary meeting of North East Council also took out time to visit Elephant Falls a tourist destination in Shillong besides spending time with locals at Mawphlang village.
A life-time experience for villagers, the visit of Prime Minister may go a long way in breaking the jinx about saffron leaders in Christian dominated frontier state of Meghalaya.
In a cultural event hosted in his honour, Modi joined the drummers, and also interacted at length with members of self-help groups in which he laid focus on rural livelihood in northeastern states.
During his maiden visit to the frontier state, the Prime Minister also met some intellectuals and senior journalists to know about the ongoing state of affairs in the state.
Earlier on Friday, Modi had inaugurated passenger trains for Manipur and Mizoram improving railway connectivity in the land-locked Northeastern states. The trains include Bhairabi-Silchar and Jiribam-Silchar passenger trains, which would bring Mizoram and Manipur on the broad gauge passenger railway map of India, while the Kamakhya-Katra Express would link Assam directly with Jammu and Kashmir.
He also laid the foundation stone for a football stadium at ‘Ampati’.
Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan, chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma, and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also accompanied the Prime Minister.
