'We should let the dust settle and see how the political equation unfolds in Assam'
An umbrella organization of several ethnic groups has decided to launch an agitation opposing the statehood demands raised by a number of ethnic groups in Assam. including Bodos, Karbis and Koch-Rajbongshis.
The first election that the US and UK-trained Conrad Sangma, who now runs the National People's Party (NPP) formed by his father PA Sangma, fought in 2004 had resulted in a narrow defeat.
'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'
High voter turnout was recorded in the assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal where an estimated 82.02 per cent and 79.51 per cent of the voters cast their ballots till 5 pm.
The seriously injured Congress leader was rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead.
"The Congress has failed to develop Assam despite being in power for such a long period and its first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had virtually bade farewell to the people of a part of the state during the 1962 Chinese aggression.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has set a two-year deadline to seal the border.
The constituencies spread across lower and central Assam will have 12,699 polling stations where 1,04,35,271 voters will be able exercise their franchise.
His remarks that some people suffer from diseases such as cancer because of sins committed in the past and that it is "divine justice" have sparked sharp reactions.
Congress MP from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh Sanjoy Singh is one of the Congress candidates who have filed nominations for the February 7 election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
In what has turned out to be an embarrassment for the ruling Congress party in Assam, three absconding persons accused in June 30 mob attack on Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Rumi Nath, 33, and her second husband Zakir in a Karimganj hotel in South Assam, were arrested from the official residence of another Congress MLA in the state assembly complex in Guwahati on Thursday night.
The outlawed anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam on Sunday took exception to All Indian Congress Committee general secretary, Rahul Gandhi's comment referring to 'suspected illegal migrants from Bangladesh' lodged in camps of violence-displaced people in western Assam as Indian citizens.
The Assam State Women's Commission, in its complaint, said that the former MP, who is known to have sided with a group of dissident Congress legislators, commented that Jorhat Superintendent of Police Sanjukta Parashar's 'unusual proximity' with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was a cause for concern.
Rediff.com takes a look at life inside a relief camp in Kokrajhar, which was the epicenter of the recent ethnic violence, which claimed 77 lives.
A sizeable number of MLAs from across state assemblies cross-voted in support of President-elect Droupadi Murmu, defying their parties' stated support to Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, sources said on Thursday.
The AGP had pulled out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government a day before the bill seeking to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan was passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Former MP Dr Ajoy Kumar on Monday offered to resign from the post of president of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee and Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar quit their posts.
Encouraged by the decision of the All India Congress Committee to appoint two of his trusted lieutenants as secretaries, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will now get tough on dissident Congress MLAs in the state.
A 19-year-old girl appearing for an examination in Assam was made to wrap a curtain around her legs by an invigilator who chafed at her wearing shorts, provoking outrage and allegations of gender bias, and prompting university authorities to order an inquiry. The girl's family has, however, decided against taking the matter further in the interest of her mental well-being and academic future.
Over 95 lakh voters will decide the fate of 539 candidates, including 43 females, in 65 constituencies spread across the state.
A new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.
Twenty odd important political figures and civil society leaders from Assam's conflicts-ridden Bodo heartland have joined Bharatiya Janata Party that has started its 'Mission Bodoland' with bang announcing its intention to provide an alternative to Bodoland people who are fed up with misrule of Bodoland People's Front where has been in power in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Council over ten years on the trot.
Protesting adivasis will hit the streets of Assam on Friday to highlight their grievances before United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during her day-long visit to Guwahati. Sonia will be addressing a farmers' rally to be organised by the ruling Congress party, besides attending an award presentation ceremony organised by Assam government in the afternoon.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday expressed concern over China's proposed mega hydropower project on the upstream of Siang River in Tibet, stating it will have a cascading effect on India and Bangladesh in the near future.
The recent bouts of violence by suspected Bodo militias that killed over 30 hapless 'Muslims, mostly children and women, and rendered several thousands homeless in lower Assam recently, once again offers a shocking glimpse of the horrendous game of violent communalism being played by the Congress government of Assam in furtherance of its cynical power politics for the last several years.' 'The result is, the state is a simmering communal cauldron that sporadically erupts at the slightest real or imagined provocation,' says R N Ravi.
The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has lodged a First Information Report with Assam police against Enamul Haque Laskar a Congress legislator, and former minister Nurjamal Sarkar for their alleged involvement in financial irregularity involving Rs 270 crore in the state Irrigation Department.
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
Clashes were reported from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, Narayanpur in North 24 Parganas, and Alipurduar town in north Bengal, among others.
The villagers were venting their anger after militants burnt down at least 100 abandoned houses including the residence of Sugnu Congress MLA K Ranjit at Serou in Kakching district on Saturday midnight.
There are three things you never do in a small North East state: Undermine local leaders, divide and rule, push homogenisation, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cut short his visit to his parliamentary constituency in Amethi and rushed to Assam, where over 100 people died in a boat tragedy in Brahmaputra. The Congress leader, who had to fly from Amethi for Delhi in the evening, winded up his three-day visit and left for Assam, Congress sources said.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday said though there is no pre-poll adjustment with the Tipra Motha, there can be local-level understanding with the tribal party, which has emerged as the third pole in the upcoming Tripura elections.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
"The first thing is he is not fit for politics. Probably, the work he should not do, he is doing," Sarma said.
The Telangana issue has rekindled Bodo tribe's demand for statehood in Assam besides adding fire to the long-standing statehood demands of different other ethnic communities including Karbi, Dimasa, Koch-Rajbongshi.
Gehlot was made the chief minister of Rajasthan after the party formed government in the state.
Three persons were injured in a low intensity blast that took place inside the Congress head office in Guwahati, on Monday evening. A grenade was thrown into the office on GS Road in Tarun Nagar in the heart of Assam's capital.
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