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.
Atleast 20 people have been injured when ULFA exploded a powerful grenade in Tinsukia. The incident took place at 7 in the evening in Doomdoma where ULFA militants lobbed the powerful grenade at a police outpost which exploded with a huge sound. Twenty people injured on the spot who were rushed to the hospital.
Dr JK Bajaj, director of Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai will attend the Guest of the Month programme of Guwahati Press Club on September 11. The programme will begin at 12 noon. A research scholar in Theoretical Physics, Dr Bajaj also studied Humanities and for some time and he used to work for Janasatta as its resident editor in New Delhi.Dr Bajaj authored several books and papers including Indian Economy and Polity, Indian tradition in science and technology, Ancient Indian medicine, Green revolution: A historical perspective etc.Member-journalists are requested to participate in the interactive session.
Morigaon police have arrested a police officer in connection with a number of sensational cases. Identified as Bhaktiran Kakoti, the suspended police officer was arrested from room no 306 of the games village complex in Guwahati in the wee hour by a team of Morigaon. Kakoti has a number of criminal cases pending against him in several police stations. He was suspended a couple of months and yet he openly criticized the DGP.
A three member panel of the national commission for protection of rights visited the relief camps in Kokrajhar on Tuesday and took stock of the plight of the affected children. Led by its chairperson Shanta Sinha, the team visited the camps at Gambaribil and Tulsibil where thousands of children have been languishing in the refugee camps. Talking to reporters at the Kokrajhar Circuit House, Sinha deplored that the plight of the affected children has not been taken into consideration during the stock—taking visits of the various delegations. She said that a sub committee should be set up to deal with the pathetic condition of the children refugees. The commission would send a team of...
A BPF MLA was among the 14 people who procured anticipatory bail from the Gauhati High Court on Tuesday in connection with an ethnic clash that killed 5 refugees in Chirang district recently. The BPF MLA is Kamal Singh Narzary who was allegedly involved in the incident where five refugees were killed by miscreants when they were shifted to another camp in Amguri area. Others include Bodo Women Justice Forum chairperson Anjali Daimary. Cases have been registered against them with Bijni police station. Bijni police have also registered a case against BPF MLA Pramila Rani Brahma who is yet to move the court.
An earthquake of mild intensity struck the state on Tuesday triggering panic among the people of Guwahati and parts of the north-eastern region. The quake with a magnitude of 3.1 on the Richter scale, rocked the region at 1:13 noon. The epicentre of was in Morigaon district. There was, however, no report of damage to life or property. There are also reports of tremors being felt in some parts of the north-east region.
Dispur is preparing a white paper on steps to check infiltration in the state. According to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the white paper would be published by October 1 to throw some lights of the steps on the issue. Taking a jibe at AGP and BJP, Gogoi dared them to come out with a white paper. He said that AGP, BJP AASU talked of yet another agitation to expel illegal immigrants. But I do dare them to reveal what they did to solve the problem.
The state government has not imposed ban on processions, demonstration and dharnas in the state. Talking to reporters in Guwahati on Tuesday, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that he only requested political parties and organizations to refrain from holding demonstrations and dharnas fearing fresh any violence.Gogoi’s comment assumes significance after his appeal drew flak from the various outfits who called the situation an undeclared emergency.
Opposition AIUDF on Tuesday threatens to sue BJP MLA Prashanta Phukan for calling the party president Badruddin Ajmal as a Bangladeshi. In a statement party general secretary and MLA Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Kasimi said that he found it hard to believe how Phukan can call Ajmal a Bangladeshi. He said that his party would demand an explanation from him. Notably, the BJP MLA from Dibrugarh, called Ajmal an immigrant at an interview with a local TV channel.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed to have improved the over all situation BTAD areas and Dhubri. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, Gogoi said that around 2.42 lakh displaced people have returned to their homes. He said that there has been no new fresh incident of violence during the last few days.He said that the next meeting of the coordination committee would be held at Kokrajhar on September 6.
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