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Assam Assembly polls : Cong for broadbase alliance

	December 19, 2005

The ruling Congress in Assam has decided to cobble up a UPA-like coalition for the coming Assembly elections, indicating that it was not confident about retaining power on its own.



PCC chief Bhubaneswar Kalita revealed that the proposal for a broad-based alliance with like-minded parties having a base in Assam was endorsed during deliberations in New Delhi on December 8. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, who is the AICC general secretary for Assam, the party’s three observers for the state and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi participated in that discussion.



Kalita’s announcement is seen as a reflection of the party’s realisation of its diminishing electoral prospects. By all accounts, the Congress is on shaky ground despite consistently asserting that it has fulfilled 85 per cent of the pre-poll promises made in 2001, when it ousted the AGP-led coalition from office.



The PCC chief said Digvijay would initiate talks with constituents of the UPA for a similar arrangement in Assam. “We are comfortably placed, but the door is open for the UPA members”, he said.



On whether the Left would agree to a tie-up after having avoided contact with the Congress in Assam for so long, Kalita said the CPI, the CPI(M) and the Congress were national parties and issues like pre-poll or post-poll arrangements would be decided at that level.





Poll panel spurs police into action



In a related development, the Election Commission has asked the state police to get cracking against “anti-social elements” and make preventive arrests in preparation for Assembly elections next year.



Winding up his three-day visit to Assam, Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon expressed concern over the slow progress of the process of deleting names of voters against whom non-bailable warrants have been pending execution for over six months.



Tandon told the media in Guwahati that of 11,937 such cases, notices had been sent to 2,073 people and only 1,473 names struck off the electoral rolls so far. He pointed out that in Bihar, over 1.5 lakh such names were deleted from the voters’ list within three months of the directive being issued.



“We in the commission are not satisfied with the progress (of Assam) in this regard and I have directed both the civil and police administration to work with better co-ordination and execute the task. If a warrant cannot be executed for more than six months, it should be presumed that the person is no longer residing in that place and so his name should not figure in the voters’ list”, the CEC said.



He revealed that the Election Commission would study the rules governing ceasefire agreements between the government and militant groups to ensure that their members could not take advantage of the situation and affect the election process.



On the suggestion by most political parties that elections should be conducted before Rongali Bihu, beginning April 13, Tandon said he would take a decision based on factors such as the timings of festivals, climatic conditions, availability of security personnel and examination schedules.





Cong-DHD pact : Opposition up in arms



Meanwhile, opposition parties in Assam have turned their guns on the Congress, saying their charges of the party’s nexus with militants had been vindicated by an expose by an English newspaper The Telegraph, about a “clandestine pact” between the Congress and the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) before the last Parliamentary elections.



Former Chief Minister and Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive) president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said the revelation had confirmed what was being suspected during the previous general elections.



Mahanta said his party would take up the matter with the Centre and the Election Commission, urging them to take steps to ensure that the ruling Congress did not enter into any similar agreement with militant outfits to garner their support in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections.



The militant DHD outfit on December 13 came out with an unimplemented “clandestine pact” with the ruling Congress, one that even promises the outfit a role in employment decisions, as proof of the government’s alleged habit of misleading tribal communities.



The single-page document lists 11 clauses and bears the signature of the chief executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Council, Khorsing Ingti, and the then chairman, George Millik. The document, dated April 12, 2004, is addressed to DHD commander-in-chief Pranab Nunisa.



The AGP (P) chief alleged that it was due to this clandestine deal with rebels in Karbi Anglong that the Congress was finding it difficult to contain violence in the district now. AGP general secretary Dilip Kumar Saikia demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.



Dubbing the pact as anti-national, the BJP said the Congress could go to any extent to gain political mileage. BJP vice-president Rameshwar Teli said it was shameful that a political party of the country had entered into such an agreement with a rebel outfit.





Dispur bows to AASU



Over two decades after the Assam Accord was signed, the Assam Government has decided to set a timeframe for implementation of all clauses in the pact in a bid to pacify the increasingly restive All Assam Students’ Union.



The government admitted during a review meeting with the AASU leadership on December 12 that the decisions taken at a tripartite discussion in New Delhi earlier this year needed to be implemented faster. Minister Bhumidhar Barman, who holds the accord implementation portfolio, led the official delegation to the meeting.



The 14-member AASU team accused the government of inordinately delaying the process, only to be assured that Dispur would set a deadline for itself soon. “There are certain clauses in the accord which only the Centre can fulfil. For the rest, what needs to be done from our side will be done within a specific timeframe”, a senior official said. The deadline is to be announced this month.



The last tripartite meeting on November 18 had ended with Delhi giving the Tarun Gogoi government a fortnight to submit its opinions on implementation of the two clauses that have remained entangled in red tape for 20 years. Clauses 6 and 7 of the accord pertain to political and cultural safeguards and economic opportunities for the indigenous population.







The Gogoi government has convened another meeting with the student organisations to discuss the proposal to compile a National Register of Citizens with March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date. AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that his organisation was losing patience over the way Dispur was handling the issue of implementing the 1985 accord, which capped a six-year movement against illegal migration.