NEW DELHI, August 16: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has proposed to establish a National Register of Citizens besides promising to introduce multi-purpose identity cards for all citizens. Apart from making a passing reference to prepare the register, the NDA's agenda released here today by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee makes no mention about the foreigners issue or the insurgency problem of the Northeast. BJP's stand on the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act find no mention either. All that the 10-page manifesto says about its proposed programme about the Northeast is that it will "revitalise the North Eastern Council (NEC), ensure territorial integrity of the states of the Northeast, special developmental, administrative and security related programme". The NDA manifesto also does not hold any promise for the Bodoland movement leadership who are supporting it, as the NDA has promised to create Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chattisgarh as new states besides granting full statehood to Delhi. The North Eastern Regional Political Parties Forum which had supported BJP-led government, also seems divided over supporting the NDA. Only two members of the previous Alliance from the region have decided to continue with the alliance. Former chief minister, Gegong Apang of the Arunachal Congress and T Chouba Singh of the Manipur Congress were present at the function. Chouba Singh later said the NERPPF in the wake of its failure to evolve a consensus appeared to have disintegrated. He confirmed that only the Manipur Congress and the Arunachal Congress were with the NDA. The NDA dilution of its stand on the foreigner problem may be exploited by the regional parties in the Northeast. Its opposition to the main demand of the Bodo leadership also may not go down well with the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU). The BJP is leaving the Kokrajhar seat to SK Bwismutiary, in what appears to be a seat understanding. (Staff correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 17, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 16: Differences still persist among the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leadership over selection of party candidates for at least two Lok Sabha seats out of the eight the party will contest in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, sources in the party maintain that differences will be sorted out and the party will to finalise the candidates on or before August 20. Three senior party leaders are keen to contest from the Guwahati constituency which was bagged by Congress in the 1998 elections. Former Lok Sabha member from Barpeta, Ataur Rahman, one of the party vice-presidents, Durga Das Boro and the general secretary of Asom Mohila Parishad and former mayor of Guwahati, Queen Ojha, are seeking party tickets Guwahati. However, a section of the party feels that Ataur Rahman should be given a ticket to contest for the Rajya Sabha seats which fell vacant following death of incumbent member Paragdhar Chaliha last month. The election to the Rajya Sabha seat will be held on August 30 next. Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, wife of chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, is also being projected by another section as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. Observers feel in order to accommodate Jayashree Goswami Mahanta in the Rajya Sabha, Ataur Rahman may be nominated from Guwahati. On the other hand, though Kartik Hazarika, a former president of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) is being tipped as the party candidate for the Tezpur seat, the ground situation is not rosy for him. A number of party legislators from the area are opposed to his candidature this time. These MLAs are in favour of fielding Koseswar Bora from Tezpur. They are opposing Hazarika on the ground that the former AASU leader besides being routed in the last Lok Sabha polls, does not have a strong mass base. In the 1998 election Kartik Hazarika was relegated to the third position behind Mani Kumar Subba of the Congress and I P Hazarika of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Koseswar Bora is being backed on the ground that he is a respectable leader in the party besides having a clean public image. In addition to Guwahati and Tezpur, the AGP is not yet decided whether to field former minister Debo Kumar Bora from Jorhat. He lost to Congress nominee Bijoy Krishna Handique by a margin of over 1,60,000 votes in 1998. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 17, 1999)

AIZAWL, August 18: An electoral alliance between the Congress and the Mizo National Front (Nationalist) is in trouble. Efforts by the Pradesh Congress Committee to forge an alliance with the MNF(N) received a setback on Monday when its nomination committee rejected the MNF president's name as the consensus candidate for the forthcoming elections and decided to field a Congressman for the state's lone Lok Sabha seat. According to senior PCC leader, Sainghaka, the chance of an electoral alliance with the MNF(N) had almost gone with the wind as the MPCC nomination committee felt a Congressman should be fielded as the consensus candidate. Earlier, the MNF(N) had given the Congress a two-point agenda as a prerequisite to forging an electoral alliance. The MNF(N) wanted the Congress to fight the election on a "free symbol" and freeze its hand symbol. At last week's meeting, the PCC's political affairs committee had rejected the MNF(N)'s demand, but left the final decision to the central leadership. The MNF(N) had also asked for a free hand in selecting the candidate for the elections and proposed the name of its president Lalduhawma. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 19, 1999)

ITANAGAR, August 16: The ruling Congress in Arunachal Pradesh has finalised the list of candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state going to the polls on October 3. According to party sources, Wangsha Rajkumar, member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, is likely to be the candidate for the Arunachal Pradesh East seat, while advocate Jorbam Gambling will contest from the Arunachal Pradesh West seat. However, the lists of candidates for both the Lok Sabha and 60 Assembly seats will be formally announced in a day or two after the return of party president Dera Natung from New Delhi. The sources said there were three aspirants for East and four for the West seats. The transport minister Tengam Ngemu and former MLA CK Manpoong were the applicants for the East Lok Sabha seat, besides Wangcha Rajkumar, while former Union minister PK Thungon, former MLA Chera Talo and youth leader Tame Passing were the applicants for the West seat besides Gambling. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 19, 1999)

KARIMGANJ, August 18 - A tripartite delegation comprising leaders of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Union joint secretary (home), GK Pillai, and representatives of the Assam government inspected the Indo-Bangladesh border in Karimganj sector to oversee the progress of border fencing and anti-infiltration measures in the district. The team visited several border outposts in the area and assessed the measures taken to check infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into India. The focus was on border fencing which is supposed to be the most important aspect of the prevention drive. The visit of the team is part of the initiative taken for implementation of the Assam Accord signed by the Centre, the state government and AASU. The AASU delegation, led by its advisor, Samujjal Bhattacharyya, pointed out several loopholes along the fenced border stretching almost 70 km with some part of it being riverine. In some areas the fencing has been breached, making it possible for infiltrators to sneak across. This was also admitted by Border Security Force (BSF) officials posted at Sutarkandi. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 19, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 19: Restoration of peace and all-round development of the state will be the main poll planks of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. This was announced by chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is also the president of the AGP. Mahanta said implementation of the Assam Accord would also be one of the main issues to be raised by the AGP. The Congress has been alleging that the AGP-led alliance government in the state has failed to provide security to the life and property of the people. It has also accused the state government of failing to take up development activities. Mahanta today reacted to the allegation and claimed that the law-and-order situation in the state had improved since the day the present government assumed office. He also said that due to acts of insurgents, development activities taken up by the state government did not get prominence in the media. Hitting out at the Congress, Mahanta said that during its 50-year rule, the Congress had divided Assamese society. He alleged that in the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, 10 Congressmen were elected to the Lok Sabha as the party took the help of extremists but the Congress MPs failed to raise the issues concerning the state on the floor of the Parliament. Mahanta admitted that the AGP was not able to infiltrate the tea tribes, considered to be the traditional votebank of the Congress. He said that the management of the tea gardens always favoured a national party for their own benefits and it was difficult for regional parties to get the support of the tea community. However, he said of late the AGP had been able to get the support of a section of the tea tribes. The AGP is likely to finalise the list of its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on August 21. (Staff correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 20, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 19: The nationwide drive launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to woo regional parties to have an electoral alliance with it has not had any success in the state much to the relief of the Congress. The saffron party's success has remained limited to striking a deal with the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU)-backed Bodo political groups in the Kokrajhar constituency only. Sources in the state BJP said though the national leadership of the party was interested in having an electoral alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the regional party did not give any positive response in this regard. The AGP's no-truck policy towards the BJP is due to its compulsion of heading the ruling coalition in the state with the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the United People's Party of Assam (UPPA). All three allies of the AGP are vocal against the BJP and its policies. The Congress will be the happiest to see the AGP and the BJP eating into the same votebank - the urban middle class and the Assamese-speaking ruralites - while the Congress has been able to keep its bastion intact among the tea tribes and migrant Muslims. The Congress enjoys a clear advantage in the tea belt of Upper Assam having seven constituencies. Moreover, the migrant Muslim voters are a deciding influence in about 40 Assembly segments in the state. If one takes into account the results of the last two Lok Sabha polls in the state in 1996 and 1998, it is clear that the division of votes between the AGP and BJP indirectly helped Congress. Migrant Muslim votes have influenced poll results in the state on most occasions. It was due to swing of migrant Muslim voters in its favour in the 1996 general election that the AGP bounced back to power in the state, in addition to clinching five Lok Sabha seats. But AGP's failure to deliver saw the migrant Muslim votes swinging back to the Congress in 1998 resulting in its rout. In 1996, the AGP and BJP together polled 43.09 per cent votes out of which AGP polled 27.17 per cent and BJP 15.92 per cent. In 1998, both parties together polled 37.19 per cent votes - 12.72 per cent polled by AGP and 24.47 per cent by BJP. On the other hand, the Congress polled 31.64 per cent votes in 1996 and 38.97 cent in 1998. In 1996, the AGP and Congress won five Lok Sabha seats each, while the BJP, the CPM, the People's Democratic Front-backed Independent and the Autonomous State Demand Committee bagged one seat each. In 1998, the Congress and its ally United Minorities Front bagged 11 seats - Congress bagged 10 and UMF one. The rest three seats were shared by the BJP, the ASDC and the ABSU-backed Independent. All the five seats which the AGP won in Brahmaputra Valley in 1996 polls were captured by Congress in 1998. On the other hand, the BJP despite winning only Silchar seat in 1998, was placed second to Congress in as many as nine constituencies. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 20, 1999)

KARIMGANJ, August 19: The Union government has fixed the year 2007 as the deadline to complete construction of fencing and border roads along the entire stretch of the Indo-Bangla border from Mizoram to West Bengal, GK Pillai, joint secretary (Northeast) in the Union home ministry said today. Pillai, who is here in connection with the visit of a joint delegation of the Union government, the state government and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to the border areas of Karimganj district, said the people of the state have to take up the responsibility of checking illegal infiltration into the state in tandem with the authorities. "Every person in Assam has to take the responsibility to stop infiltration," Pillai said explaining that his visit with the other members of the delegation was to sensitise the people of Assam of the dangers of illegal infiltration. He said that the main objective of the visit was to review the progress of border fencing and road construction, identify the gaps and deficiencies and suggest solutions. Pillai said the Centre had already sanctioned the setting up of a 3,500-man-strong Prevention of Infiltration Force (PIF) to form a second line of defence against infiltration. The state government has failed to utilise the opportunity, Pillai said. The PIF is to be funded by the Centre. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 20, 1999)

IMPHAL, August 18: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has finally arrived at a decision for a common candidate for the coming Lok Sabha polls with the announcement of the name of T Chaoba, former member of Parliament. Chaoba will contest the Inner Manipur seat. The Congress has announced the name of Nimaichand Luwang as its candidate for Inner Manipur. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 20, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 20: Dr Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, wife of the Assam Chief Minister, today filed her nomination as the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate for the August 30 election to one of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from the State. With no other candidate in the fray. Goswami Mahanta is all set to be elected unopposed to the Upper House of the Parliament. She later said "I have decided to contest for Rajya Sabha as I believe a member of the Upper House gets the opportunity to serve the interests of the people of the entire state while the scope for a Lower House member is limited to working for a single Lok Sabha constituency". (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 21, 1999)

AGARTALA, August 20: The Congress in Tripura is heading for a virtual split with its top leader and former chief minister Sudhir Ranjan Mazumder joining the Trinamul Congress headed by Mamata Banerjee. Mazumder, also a former Pradesh Congress Committee president and Rajya Sabha member, told newsmen here on Friday that Banerjee had appointed him as the chairman of the Trinamul Congress' Tripura unit. The names of other leaders of the state unit would be announced soon, he said. "I have been associated with the Congress since 1960. I remained a true Congressman though many leaders left the party," Mazumder said adding "it was not my intention to leave the party, but the high command has sold the party to the CPI(M)." Mazumder announced his decision to join the Trinamul Congress after Pijush Biswas was selected for the West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency. Leaders close to Mazumder said Banerjee had already requested the central leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to give the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat to the Trinamul Congress. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 21, 1999)