Over 95 per cent of people in nine districts of Assam have rejected the banned United Liberation Front of Asom's demand for sovereignty for the state, a referendum conducted by a forum of kin of the militants has revealed.

The referendum conducted in nine of the state's 27 districts by Assam Public Works, a body formed by relatives of ULFA members, indicated that a majority of people were not in favour of the group's demand for a sovereign Assam.

Releasing the findings at a meeting in Guwahati on Friday, APW's secretary general Abhijeet Sarma said only about 5 per cent of the people surveyed supported the ULFA demand.

ULFA's insistence on making sovereignty the core issue for any talks with the government is one of the reasons that has stalled the peace process in Assam. The Centre has rejected the demand.

Sarma said the study was conducted in the districts of Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Guwahati (metro), Dhubri, Darrang, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Nalbari during the first phase. Other districts will be covered in the second phase to be launched soon.

More than 1,800 members of APW fanned out across nine districts with questionnaires that were distributed for people to give their views.