Abhishek Saha

Insurgency by Karbi — a major ethnic community of Assam — groups, dotted by several factions and splinters, has had a long history in Assam, marked by killings, ethnic violence, abductions and taxation since the late 1980s.

Sharpening his attack on the Trinamool government, the PM accused it of failing to provide drinking water to the people of Bengal.

Barua, speaking to a senior functionary of Guwahati Press Club (GPC) over the telephone, said the outfit’s statement about “extreme steps” was misconstrued by sections of media and never meant killing.

The Assam government has increased the wages of tea garden workers from Rs 167 to Rs 217. Why is this announcement important? Why is the tea garden community important in Assam?

Last Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a rally in the state that the party will ensure a Rs 365 per day wage to tea garden workers of Assam if elected to power.

He added: “The BJP has to understand that people are not fools. It’s like you keep saying the tiger is coming, the tiger is coming …but Badruddin Ajmal is not a tiger. Badruddin Ajmal is a human being.”

The ULFA-I statement, signed by the outfit’s “publicity cell” member Rumel Asom, said that its demands had not been fulfilled till the deadline on Friday.

Himanta targeted AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, saying the perfume baron-MP was an “enemy” of Assam.

Rahul and other senior state and national Congress leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, appeared on stage with the traditional Assamese gamusa (towel) on their shoulders with the letters CAA crossed out.

Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made the announcement in the Assembly while presenting the vote-on-account for an aggregate expenditure of Rs 60,784.03 crore for the first six months of the next financial year.

Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma listed all the achievements of the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government and the various schemes successfully implemented in different sectors.

Mukhi also constituted a high-level inquiry committee to go into details of the functioning of the Dibrugarh University for the last five years and enquire into financial allegations.

Who are the Koch Rajbangshis? How significant are they politically? Who is Ananta Rai, whom Shah is visiting in Assam?

Champai shares a porous border with Myanmar’s Chin State. The Mizo and the Chin communities share similar ethnic roots, inter-marriages too occur between them, a government official said.

The districts of Namsai, Lohit, Dibang Valley, Upper Siang, Anjaw, Changlang, Tirap and West Kameng are said to be among the 272 worst drug-abuse affected districts in the country and there are reports of government employees addicted to drugs in the state.

Such conspiracies will not be allowed to succeed, he said. “Our tea workers will win this fight. These attacks on Indian tea do not have the strength to face the hard work of our tea garden workers.”

Claiming there is a ‘conspiracy’ afoot to malign the global image of India’s beverage industry, Modi said no one could appreciate the rich aroma and special taste of Assam tea more than him.

Last month, the Congress and five other parties — the CPI, the CPI(M) and the CPI(ML); the AIUDF and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) — officially announced their pre-poll ‘grand alliance’.

Both the new parties owe their origin to the massive anti-CAA protests that rocked Assam in 2019.

The high profile event was attended by CM Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Sarma, at a press conference in Guwahati on Wednesday, said that he too had food from the same kitchen and suffered a minor stomach upset.

Sarma said the BJP will not give tickets to those who identify themselves as Miya Muslims and urged the Congress to do the same.

Sitharaman will lead an event to ceremonially kick-off a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for Assam tea garden workers on February 6.

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s comments comes days after he said that the Congress can win 100 seats “only in Bangladesh”.

Ramkumar Diwakar, the father-in-law of Ram Kumar, from Samastipur in Bihar, told The Indian Express the family was deeply worried. “My 5-year-old grandchild Aditya Raj — Ram Kumar’s son — suffers from blood cancer.