AGP readies for election, ULFA casts shadow

Leaders of the various political parties in the state have urged him to reconsider the decision.

8220;Since a boycott call by the ULFA will have no effect in the minority-inhabited areas, it will only work against the increase of the indigenous people. So the ULFA should reconsider its decision,8221; said Parbati Prasad Goswami, vice-president of the BJP8217;s state unit.

In 1998, the ULFA had jeopardised the polls and the Assamese-speaking people refrained from voting, giving an edge to the Congress. The Bharatiya Janata Party came second in most of the state8217;s 14 constituencies.

The Asom Gana Parishad has now asked its district-level leaders not to provoke thelocal ULFA cadres. Asom Gana Parishad spokesman Birendra Prasad Baishya said today that the people were not likely to respond to the ULFA call, having realised the consequences of not voting in 1998. The Congress, however, is hoping the incumbency factor would go against the Asom Gana Parishad.