Sonowal, a law graduate, is considered to be a rarity -- an honest politician who also worked to unite different communities with his oft-repeated lines 'Barak-Brahmaputra-plains-hills'.
Over 95 lakh voters will decide the fate of 539 candidates, including 43 females, in 65 constituencies spread across the state.
At least 15 people have died in heavy floods and landslides triggered by continuous rain for the last three days in Assam, where airforce helicopters, army, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service for rescue work, officials said.
China violates agreement, didn't share Brahmaputra hydrological data.
After lying low for the last two years since one of its factions declared unilateral ceasefire, United Liberation Front of Asom militants attacked a tea planter and a garden employee and torched vehicles in upper Assam along Arunachal Pradesh.
United Liberation Front of Asom chief Arabinda Rajkhowa was released from the Guwahati Central Jail, two days after his bail plea was granted by a designated TADA court.
They warned that the 'prime minister and his cabinet colleagues will be stopped from entering the state' if their interests were harmed.
Assembly elections in Assam used to be a quiet affair and people outside the state would take little interest in the outcome. This time, even in faraway Delhi, people are keeping tabs on political developments in Assam.
Laying the foundation of the 500-bed Jorhat Medical College Hospital in Upper Assam on Monday, Dr Singh informed that the Planning Commission had estimated that there would be shortage of about 1 million nurses in the country in the next 10 years. In this regard he said given the scope, the 'educated and progressive women' of the north-east would be able to make good doctors and nurses to cater to the countrywide need of medical professionals.
Neeraj Das alias 'Kola Lora', the prime accused in the AASU leader lynching case, died on Wednesday after being hit by a police vehicle "as he was trying to escape police custody", a senior officer said.
Two personnel of the Border Roads Organisation were killed and another injured as National Democratic Front of Bodoland insurgents fired at them in upper Assam's Dhemaji district, on Monday night.
Spearheading the protests against the dams, the All Assam Students' Union, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and All Mishing Students' Union have raised the alarm that these mega dams would have a catastrophic effect on life and livelihoods of people living in the downstream areas of the Brahmaputra river in Assam.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget on February 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May.
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
Initially the Army had claimed that four of its men received minor injury immediately after Wednesday evening's blast under two of its vehicles at Chonhkham in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.
However, Rajya Sabha being a continuing chamber is not subject to dissolution, and bills introduced and pending in this House remain on the live register, unless withdrawn by the government.
A security source informed that a four-member team of ULFA militants were on their way to Tengapani forest in Arunachal Pradesh when they came face to face with an army team.
The blast, which occurred due to a technical snag, set off oil spillage over a three km radius area that spread to Rajabari village, sources said.
'Divine experience and a proud moment' is how the 15 couples who were the 'mukhya yajman' for the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya described the grand event and said that the day will be forever etched in their memories.
In a fillip to the ambitious Agnipath scheme, the Union home ministry has announced 10 per cent reservation for former Agniveers in vacancies in the Border Security Force (BSF) with relaxations in the upper age limit.
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
The committee has also suggested two formulas for the reservation of seats for the indigenous people in the Assam assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, including 67 per cent quota for them.
Those who join the armed forces even at the upper age limit of 21 years under the Agnipath scheme can be recruited by the CISF till the age of 30 after four years of service in the Army, the Air Force or the Navy in the case of the first batch and till 28 years for the subsequent batches.
Five of the slain rebels were in uniform and had torches in their hands, police said.
Public sector Oil India Ltd has declared an emergency and called for global fire extinguishing experts to control a blaze that broke out on Thursday in one of its wells at Dikom in Upper Assam.
The Highlanders were the more organised side from the moment the referee blew his whistle and their upper hand in the game finally paid dividends in the 26th minute of the first half.
At least eight people, including four of a family, were washed away and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh surface links disrupted by flash floods in Assam's Dhemaji district on Monday.
Sonowal's name as the party's face came as no surprise as he came with a clean image and no baggage and enjoyed the confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Several places in Arunachal Pradesh, including capital Itanagar, were cut off by floods and landslides.
Opener Shubham Rohilla struck his fourth first-class hundred to take Services to 279 for 4 against defending champions Saurashtra
Himanta Biswa Sarma -- who is also the North East Democratic Alliance convenor -- took the oath of office and secrecy in Assamese.
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.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday filed his nomination papers for his fifth Rajya Sabha term from Assam.
If the party is unable to do well in Gujarat and Karnataka polls, it could lose this status in the subsequent binneial elections to the upper House.
The Election Commission of India has announced that elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat, and West Bengal will be held on July 24.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
Incessant rains in parts of Assam and the upper reaches of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh have caused flash floods in Sonitpur and Dhemaji districts, where nearly 30,000 people are affected.
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