Our correspondent from Guwahati: In a bid to unite all regional forces to recoup power at Dispur from Congress, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has determined to constitute a working group for unification. And they are all set to get a new president to clear the decks for the much-hyped reunification.This was decided by the party in its central executive committee meeting held at Mangaldoi on Sunday.Most of the members of the committee have come down heavily on party president Brindaban Goswami for his failure to coalesce the party with AGP (Progressive) led by former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. The party top guns came down heavily on Goswami for his lack of efficiency and asked him to step down immediately. Mr Goswami and his loyalists further came in for sharp attack for the “alleged attempt to prevent the founder president and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta from entering into the party. Even Mr Goswami’s close associates including Sarbananda Sonowal, Padma Hazarika and Kumar Deepak Das alleged that there has been attempt to stonewall Mr Mahanta and his associates Some leaders even threatened to quit the party if Mr Goswami fails to quit the presidentship saying the sitting president is, in fact, damaging the prospect of the state’s biggest regional forces. They are of the view that due to expulsion of Mahanta before the assembly poll, the AGP has suffered a crisis due to the expulsion.The general view in the executive committee is that the party can be strengthened if Mahanta comes back to the party and takes the leadership. It was felt that Mahanta was chief minister of the state for two times and AGP can not be revived without Mahanta. Mahanta is now leading AGP (P) after his expulsion from the party having one seat in the state assembly.The members called for a general house meeting of the party for threadbare discussion on the issue of unification on July 22. The executive committee will also sit on July 21 to discuss the next course of action.In the midst of the din that rocked the executive meeting, Mr Goswami offered to quit when the party wants but supported the move to forge pact with non Congress parties to oust the Tarun Gogoi Government from the power.Meanwhile when contacted Mahanta refused to comment on the issue and said he is not interested in the internal matter of any political party. However he said all like minded regional parties should come under one umbrella for the best interests of the state and its people. Discussions are on with many regional parties for this unification, he said.
Guwahati Frontier BSF steps up effective border management and supervision of functioning of field formations along the 495 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam and West Bengal. Addressing the troops during the First Raising Day of the Frontier at Patgaon in Guwahati on Monday Inspector General P K Wahal said that the new Frontier have been carrying out civic action programmes. He said that the troops on the border have been found dominating their respective area of responsibility round-the-clock through observation posts, patrolling on foot, patrolling both on vehicle and boat during day time. In addition to human efforts, troops have been making extensive use of force multipliers...
Stages have been set to airlift a rhinoceros to a national sanctuary after the rare animal reached Sualkuchi in the outskirt of Guwahati.The full grown rhinoceros is believed to have strayed from the Pobitora sanctuary which is being guarded around the clock against poachers with an IAF helicopter. The efforts to airlift the rhinoceros failed on Monday because of bad weather. Top ranked forest and district administration officials are camping in the Rani Chapori area to guard the animal from poachers. The rhino was spotted by local people at Rani Chapori of Sualkuchi near here in Kamrup Rural district and was suspected to have strayed from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary near Guwahati.For...
Fresh incidents of violence gripped Dima Hasao distirct after the district administration relaxed curfew in Haflong on Monday.Supporters of the North Cachar Hills Indigenous Poples Forum turned violent where policemen were attacked in Haflong town. Bandh supporters pelted stones at security forces at Mahadev Tilla and Harangajao. Policemen on duty were forced to fire rubber bullets to disperse the mob.Some NCIPF activists came out into the streets in Haflong during the curfew relaxation period and set on fire a bike at Kalibari Road. This is apart from an incident where an autorickshaw was damaged at Gunjung area. Indefinite curfew was reimposed in the hills town following the incident.
Three persons were killed by lightning and two others seriously injured in Goalpara district on Monday.Two of them hail from a family when the five persons were inside a house at Nolanga Reserve when they were struck by ligtning killing a man and his son and a neighbour on the spot. Three persons were killed by lightning in Dhubri district and two girls in Golaghat district on Sunday.
Tension is simmering along Assam-Mizoram interstate border when a Barak Valley-based NGOs launched a fresh indefinite blockade on NH-54.The blockade on the road connecting Mizoram was launched at 6 in the morning demanding that non-tribal workers from Cachar district be allowed to enter Mizoram's IOC Veng locality of Vairengte without inner line permits.The All Barak Youth Students' Association demanded that the governments of both the states find a solution to Assam-Mizoram boundary disputes and implored the Assam government to destroy the 'boundary pillars' erected by Mizo NGOs.
A UGC sponsored national seminar on the Problems of Industrial Labourers in Assam was held in ADP College, Nagaon on September 28-29. The seminar was inaugurated on Sep 28 by Dr Narayan Ch Barman, President of Governing Body by lighting lamp. Dr Sarifuddin Ahmed, Principal of ADP College welcomed the guests and scholars. Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, Working President of the Seminar Organizing Committee dedicated the seminar to the hallowed memory of Anandaram Dhekial Phookan who was the pioneer of economic analysis in Assamese literature.Prof Nirankar Srivastav, Dean, School of Social Science, North Eastern Hills University presented the key note address. He highlighted the problems of...
The ravaging inferno at an ONGC-owned plants in Titabor on Friday mires in controversy. ONGC authorities blamed technical fault resulting in the fire that left reduced properties worth crores of rupees to ashes. But ULFA’s anti-talk claimed to have blown up the plant alleging that the attack would continue. In an e-mail statement, the outfit claimed to have blown up the plants. Notably, on several occasion earlier ULFA owned up responsibilities.
Security forces arrested six cadre of United Peoples Democratic Front in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. They were arrested from Changlang district bordering Tinsukia during an anti insurgency operation. Police interrogation is going on in Tinsukia.
An ULFA militant was killed and two policeman have been seriously injured at an encounter in Tinsukia district on Saturday. The encounter took place at Bordumgsa when ULFA militants faced security forces on patrolling duty resulting in a fierce firing in the evening. ULFA militants lobbed a grenade in which one policeman was injured and he was admitted to Assam Medical College Hospital at Dibrugarh. Then the militants managed to escape.
National Human Rights Commission has registered one more case in connection with the murder of PhD scholar from Assam Pritam Bhattacharjee at Naugachia railway station in Bihar.
The case was registered after Silchar district bar association appealed to NHRC to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. The NHRC has registered the suit, its assistant registrar (legal cell) informed the bar association secretary Champak Dutta. Bhattacharjee, who hails from Silchar had boarded the Assam-Avadh Express from Guwahati on July 8 and went missing from Naugachia station the next day.
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