The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday named Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and its general secretary Arun Singh as central observers for the election of the leader of its legislative party in Assam.
Those who have studied Assam elections say the high turnout has the Congress worried.
After another round of talks with the Central government today, the faction of the militant United Liberation Front of Assam led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa hopes for an early solution to the problem as the 'talks are progressing along the right course'.
On the parade ground are sons of jawans, farmers, LIC agents, daily wage farm labourers, shopkeepers... all living their moment of triumph; their faces bright with the possibilities that lie ahead.
The chairman of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom Arabinda Rajkhowa on Tuesday said that the outfit was hopeful that the assurance of an 'honourable negotiated solution' to all the burning problems of Assam as given by 'the leadership of the world's largest democracy to the people of a strife-torn Assam ' would be kept in true spirit.
The 84-year old veteran Congressman, who died from post-COVID complications on Monday, was a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist.
Following a meeting of the group's leaders, a spokesman of the outfit informed that it was unanimously decided in the meeting, which was attended by all the top leaders of the pro-talks faction, that no leader or cadre of the outfit get involved with the forthcoming assembly election in the state and the message has been sent to all the members of the outfit through 'proper channels'.
In a statement issued to the media in Guwahati, chairman of the banned ULFA, Arabinda Rakhowa said: 'A baseless and misleading rumour has been spread among the people of Assam about holding of dialogue among the ULFA, colonial Indian government and the Assam government. We hereby appeal to the people of Assam not to get confused by this rumour till we clarify our stand on holding of such dialogue.'
The banned United Liberation Front of Asom on Friday gave a strong message to the government that it may be down off late because of the reverses it has suffered in Bangladesh and in the wake of arrest of so many of its top leaders, saying it is definitely not.
On talks with ULFA, which received a major setback last year with four of its top leaders arrested in Bangladesh, he said: "Though we tried to bring them (ULFA) to the negotiation table in 2006, they backed out. I hope this time good reason prevails.
According to a source in the Army, the top leader of the ULFA's 28th battalion, which is most dreaded and highly active in eastern Assam districts, was handed over to the police in Tinsukia district on Saturday.
Thousands of ULFA cadres have either surrendered or been arrested, but none of them had confessed to any arms deal with the LTTE.
The government is determined to start negotiation with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom sans the participation of its fugitive 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said that dialogue with ULFA will start as soon as the outfit will take a formal decision in its general council meeting.
The Central government-appointed interlocutor for facilitating peace talks with the banned United Liberation Front of Assam P C Haldar, the former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, arrived in Guwahati for a three-day visit on Wednesday.
ULFA 'Captain' Antu Chaudang and 'Second Lieutenant' Pradeep Chetia were pushed back through the Dawki border early on Saturday and were taken to Guwahati by a team of the Assam police. Chaudang is considered a close confidant of ULFA hardliner and commander in chief Paresh Baruah
The Centre on Tuesday held talks with the top leadership of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom and discussed various aspects of its 'charter of demands' which sought amendment in the Constitution to find a lasting solution to the three-decade-old insurgency problem in Assam.
Bangladesh's envoy to India has sought immediate steps for upgrading the New Delhi mission's security fearing retaliation by United Liberation front of Assam in the wake of the Indian Border Security Force arresting two top militant leaders, who were reportedly earlier detained in his country.
In the run-up to its Raising Day on April 7, the anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom is likely to indulge in subversive activities to create panic in Assam, a top police official said on Monday.
The retreating Pakistani troops were heading towards Dacca and they had to be stopped at all costs. The Eastern Army Commander, in his orders to General Sagat Singh, had reiterated that he did not want the troops of 4 Corps to cross the Meghna river. But General Sagat had other plans to threaten Dacca and ensure that the pressure would make the Pakistani commanders capitulate. This is where the IAF helicopters came in.
The government on Wednesday said the United Liberation Front of Asom's top leader Arabinda Rajkhowa was "apprehended" by the Border Security Force on the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border and later arrested by the Assam police as he was wanted in connection with several cases
Deviating from his earlier stand on the release of top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom from jail to facilitate talks with the outfit, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh would have the final say in the matter.
The banned United Liberation Front of Assam on Friday demanded release of its top leaders from jail to do the spadework to hold talks with the government, and clarified that it had never stated in any point of time that talks could be held without commander-in-chief Paresh Barua.
Quoting data collected from various sources, officials closely monitoring the situation here said that .303 rifles, Medium Machine Guns (MMG) and AK assault rifles, carbines, Insas Light Machine Guns (LMG), Insas rifles, M-16 and MP5 rifles were reported to be missing from the armouries of the police in May.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday claimed that top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom who are either in captivity or out on bail were willing to hold talks with the government and had sent "feelers" to him in this regard.
The Central and Assam governments are for immediate "direct talks" with the top leadership of United Liberation Front of Asom to resolve the insurgency problem of the state, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Tuesday.
The influential All Assam Students Union on Wednesday said that the peace initiative launched by the pro-talks leaders of the ULFA'a 28 th battalion raised hopes for a solution, provided the top brass of the United Liberation Front of Asom and the Indian government respond to it by holding a direct and unconditional political dialogue to solve the insurgency issue.
Police sources said that over 3000 people gathered at the community hall in Kakopathar to hear the pro-talks ULFA leaders Mrinal Hazarika, Jiten Dutta and Joon Sonowal who have been on a mission to mobilise public opinion in favour of unconditional peace talks between the ULFA leadership and the Indian government to restore peace in Assam.
'The violence that shook Assam was a direct outcome of the state's ethnic problem... The tension that created a rift between the Bodos and the non-Bodos for years found a blood-spattered expression.' Former NSG chief Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Kokrajhar, speaks to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com about last week's carnage in Assam.
The peace process between the United Liberation Front of Asom and the Centre appears to have hit a roadblock with both sides refusing to back down from their respective stands.
Each side is waiting for the other to make the move towards direct talks.
Saikia, kidnapped on April 21, was released near the border in Longwa village of Mon district in Nagaland after 31 days, said a top official at Assam Police headquarters.
The ULFA is outsourcing explosives and improvised explosive devises from the jehadi elements, he said.
While the BPF and the UPPL are considered rivals in the Bodo-dominated areas, there was no pre-poll alliance among other parties as well.
Anup Chetia, who is now lodged at the Guwahati Central Jail, said that he wanted to join the pro-talks faction of the ULFA.
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Issac-Munivah wanted to join the operations against NSCN-K militants.
India has not only been decked in tricolour hues in the lead up to the 76th Independence Day celebrations, but also put under a heavy security blanket, right from Delhi, the epicentre of the mega celebrations, to Jammu and Kashmir.
A militant of the United Liberation Front of Assam was killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday.
Chetia, who was in Bangladesh since his arrest by the neighbouring country's police in 1997, was handed over to India at the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and through active involvement of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
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