AGARTALA / GUWAHATI, Jan 19 (TIWN): Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his two-day visit to Sikkim and Assam on Monday but deferring his Tripura visit til February to inaugurate India's 3rd Internet Gateway, 100 MW Power export to Bangladesh. The prime minister attended a conference of state agricultural ministers on sustainable development, organic farming and eco-tourism in Gangtok and lay the foundation stone of a new building for Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Guwahati. According to statement, Modi arrived in Gangtok on Monday afternoon and then visited an orchid display and seasonal flowers exhibition. "The Prime Minister attended the state agricultural ministers conference on sustainable development, organic farming and eco-tourism in Gangtok. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday blamed the Congress for the problems of Assam, saying that the party hasn't done any work in 15 years despite the fact that his predecesor Manmohan Singh represented the state in the Rajya Sabha. Tripura's former Governor and current Assam Governor P.B.Achariya took active role in getting Assam and rest of North East's development as Modi Govt's priority.

"Modi also interacted with organic farmers in Gangtok on Tuesday before leaving for Assam, the statement said. Modi on Tuesday  laid the foundation stone for a new building for IIIT Guwahati, the largest city of Assam, and addressed  the students of IIT, NIT and central universities of the northeastern states.  

Modi criticised Congress in Assam and said “They (Congress) didn't work for 15 years and expect me to do all the work in 15 months,” Modi said while addressing a rally here.

“I thought there can't be any problem in Assam as a party (Congress) was in power here for 15 years, since the former prime minister (Manmohan Singh) from here governed the nation for 10 years (2004-2014),” he said.

He is expected to address about 6,000 students and others at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati. The assembly elections are due in the state by April.