Asom Gana Parishad leadership is facing an uphill task to avoid any dissidence within the party over the allotment to election tickets. The party’s election committee will meet on Friday to finalise the first list of candidates. Just ahead of preparing the first list of its candidates for the next assembly polls, the AGP think tank has found itself in a difficult situation while selecting the candidates. The election committee will declare the first list in the first week of next month. The Election committee of AGP will meet in Guwahati on Friday. However, the party is trying to sort out all differences among its ticket seekers over selection of candidates. The party top brass recently held meeting with the heads of all district committees and discussed about the matter. There are many constituencies where more than one contenders have applied forc tickets. These constituencies are Patharkuchi, Sipajhar, Dhokuakhana, Lakhimpur etc. The party is facing problems in selecting a consensus candidate in these constituencies. Apart from the election committee, the steering committee will also meet on Friday. Meanwhile, the party is organizing a mammoth rally at Khanapara on Saturday to boost the moral of the party workers.The selection of consensus candidates for those constituencies having more than one contender has become a major challenge for the party, already battered y dissidence and infighting
Friday, January 28, 2011
MANIPUR TRUCKERS NOT TO USE NH-39 AGAIN
In a significant development for crisis-hit Manipur, the state’s freight truck and oil tanker drivers, who are responsible for bringing essential items to Manipur have decided not to use national highway 39 again. This decision was arrived at in an emergency meeting of the inter-state Drivers held in the backdrop of the recent abduction and harassment faced by the driver community. In an emergency meeting held at the office of the All Manipur Road Transport Dirvers’ & Motor Workers’ Union, Freight truck drivers and Oil Tanker drivers have unanimously decided to abandon the shorter and more convenient national highway 39 that connects Manipur with Assam via Nagaland. Instead of using the NH 39, the drivers resolved to use the longer national highway 53 to bring essential commodities from Manipur. This joint decision of the inter-state drivers was arrived at, in view of the frequent harassment and life threatening incidents that drivers travelling along the NH 39 had to face.This is not the first time that freight and oil tank drivers had decided to abandon the use of the national highway 39. The Manipur State Govt had requisitioned the freight trucks and oil tankers and had compelled the drivers to use the dread national highway. The grievance of the drivers is that Govt of Manipur as well as all the other concerned authorities have always turned blind eye to their plight. The truckers had suspended operation last week after Karbi militants kidnapped two tanker drivers and a handyman from Deopani of Karbi Anglong while they were on way to Manipur. Demanding their release, all oil tankers had started ceasework strike forcing the government to intervene. The two drivers and the handyman had spent 8 days in captivity under the custody of a Karbi militant outfit. The militants demanded Rs 50 lakh from the owner of the tanker. It is not known whether the extortion has been paid and how much if at all it was paid.
Church attacks: Panel's clean chit to BJP & Sangh
