GUWAHATI A regional language literary event in the northeast will for the first time carry the flavour of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to address the concluding session of the 61 st annual conference of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) in western Assam’s Tamulpur on May 4. The conference begins on May 2.

“This will be an historic occasion. No President of India has attended any literary event of any language in the northeast before,” BSS president, Toren C. Boro told The Hindu on Sunday.

“Kovindji is expected to speak on attuning a vernacular language like Bodo to modern digital demands and where regional languages stand vis-à-vis the New Education Policy and e-learning,” he said.

Formed in 1952, the BSS has stepped into its 70 th year. It was inspired by the Assam Sahitya Sabha that was formed in 1917 to primarily promote Assamese literature.

Mr. Boro said about 4,000 delegates are expected to attend the three-day conference from all over the world. There are Bodo language speakers in Bangladesh, Nepal and West Bengal besides Assam.

The Bodoland Territorial Council has declared May 4 as a public holiday across the Bodoland Territorial Region to mark the President’s visit.