India, Feb. 24 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday blamed previous governments at Centre and in the northeast for neglecting the region's development for decades but stressed that the situation had now changed.

"Both development and the culture of Assam and the rest of northeast were neglected by previous governments. But now Modi himself has become the brand ambassador of the region's culture," PM Modi said at a dance event called Jhumoir Binandini, a traditional dance form of the tea-tribe community of Assam.

Over 8,000 dancers and drummers from over 800 tea gardens across Assam participated in the dance event held at Sarusajai Stadium to mark celebrations to commemorate 200 years of Assam's tea industry.

Assam governor Lakshma...