No alliance talks with Congress for Assam assembly polls: Raijor Dal
Guwahati (PTI): Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal on Sunday announced that it will not hold any talks with the Congress for an opposition alliance in the upcoming state assembly elections.
In December last year, Congress, CPI(M), Raijor Dal (RD), Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Jatiya Dal-Asom (JDA) and Karbi Anglong-based All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) had joined hands to fight the assembly elections from a common platform.
RD, in a statement, levelled a series of allegations against the Congress and its state chief Gaurav Gogoi, accusing them of abandoning the idea of an alliance and cited the recent joint press briefing by four opposition parties, excluding Akhil Gogoi's outfit.
ALSO READ: EAM Jaishankar to make statement in LS on situation in West Asia
On Friday, Congress, CPI(M), AJP and APHLC jointly addressed a press conference in Guwahati and announced of launching joint campaign for the assembly elections.
"The Congress broke the alliance with us and sealed it with three other parties on March 6. Why did it break the alliance with us? What was our fault? We have been very open and tolerated all illogical arguments of Congress only for the sake of an alliance," RD said.
It claimed that the Congress wanted an "unconditional surrender" of Raijor Dal, which it did not agree to.
"We only wanted 15 seats and a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Gaurav Gogoi opposed a CMP. He did not want to give us respect and broke the alliance with his arrogance," the statement said.
The Assam assembly elections for 126 constituencies are expected to take place in April this year. This will be the first assembly election after the delimitation exercise, which was done in 2023.
When asked during a March 6 presser if negotiations with RD and other opposition parties have failed, Gaurav Gogoi had said, "We are sending a clear message that from today, we are coming together. But our doors are open and we are in talks with others as well."
The RD claimed that both the opposition parties had officially met only once to discuss a possible alliance on February 19, and it observed that leaders' "individual interests" are prime in the Congress.
"After the meeting on February 19 failed, we sent a letter next day. But the Congress showed utter disrespect to us and has not replied to it till today. It has hurt our self-respect. That is why, we now believe that it will be impossible for us to take forward the alliance talks with the Congress," it added.
The party also said that it had initially sought 27 seats as its share from the Congress, which termed it "too high".
The RD, accordingly, brought down its demand to 15, but the Congress agreed to give 13 seats only, it added.
"Of those, only four seats were of our own choice. The Congress allowed us a friendly contest in four other seats, while five seats were imposed on us. So practically, we were downgraded to four seats from the initial demand of 27 seats," the statement said.
On March 3, the Congress took the lead in announcing its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, fielding state party chief Gaurav Gogoi from the Jorhat seat.
A day later, RD declared the first list of 11 candidates. Of them, the Margherita constituency has candidates from both the opposition parties.
Presently, the ruling BJP's strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly is 64, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven and BPF has three members.
In the opposition camp, the Congress has 26 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 members and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is one Independent legislator as well.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rajnath Singh chairs IGoM meet, urges constant vigil over West Asia crisis
New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday emphasised the need for round-the-clock monitoring of the West Asia conflict and called for a calibrated response to deal with any eventuality to ensure that national interests remain protected.
Singh made the comments while chairing a high-level meeting of the Informal Group of Ministers (IGoM) set-up to monitor the situation in West Asia.
The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Power Minister Manohar Lal, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister J P Nadda, Consumer Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi and Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
In view of the "uncertain situation", the defence minister underlined the importance of round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and the need to respond in a calibrated manner to deal with any eventuality, an official readout said.
He stressed on the need to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people of the country face the minimum effect of the conflict, it said.
It was the second meeting of the IGoM after it was set up last month.
The IGoM was apprised of the measures being taken by the government in the wake of the ongoing West Asia conflict, Singh said on social media.
"We also deliberated upon the next steps to be taken by the government to mitigate any adverse impact arising due to the ongoing conflict," he said.
The defence ministry said in the readout said, "In the meeting, the seven empowered groups of secretaries briefed the IGoM on the steps being taken to tackle the situation."
"The IGoM was apprised about measures undertaken by the Ministry of Finance to address concerns arising due to global trade disruptions and provide relief and support to the industry, especially manufacturing, and bolster investor confidence," it said.
It listed measures including notification issued on Wednesday on full customs duty exemption on 40 critical petrochemical products till June 30.
The ministry also mentioned announcement of a special one-time relief measure for eligible units in SEZs to sell manufactured goods in Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) at concessional customs duty rates to be effective from April 1 to March 31.
It also noted another notification issued by the Department of Revenue clarifying that the provisions of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) will not be invoked in respect of investments made prior to April 1, 2017.
"These measures will reduce cost pressures on downstream sectors including textiles, packaging and pharmaceuticals, facilitate supply stability in the country and provide requisite clarity for investors contemplating investments in India," the readout said.
Defence Minister Singh appreciated the government's decision to impose a 25 per cent cap on the monthly increase in aviation turbine fuel prices for domestic operations, with effect from April 1.
This step will help protect the people from sudden increase in fares, he said.
The government has accorded highest priority to domestic LPG supply, with refinery production enhanced to fully meet consumption requirements, according to the readout.
"The IGoM was informed that there have been no reports of dry-out at LPG distributorships, and delivery of domestic LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders continues as per the normal schedule. The temporary supply concerns arose due to instances of hoarding and black marketing, which triggered panic buying in certain areas," it said.
The ministers were informed that strict enforcement action is being undertaken, with raids being carried out across multiple states and Union territories to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG, the ministry said in the readout.
Action has also been taken against some LPG distributors who engaged in malpractices, it said.
"To support migrant labour and low-consumption households, the government is ensuring adequate availability of 5 kg free trade LPG cylinders, and since March 23, over 4.3 lakh such cylinders have been sold. Special focus is being given to states where demand is higher," it said.
The IGoM was apprised that industrial requirements dependent on commercial LPG are being met, with over 80 per cent of pre-crisis supply levels being maintained to ensure continuity of operations.
"Special meetings have been held with ministries and stakeholders of different industries to understand their demand and meet their needs. Oil PSUs are ensuring continued supply of Auto LPG across the country," the readout noted.
"However, some supply constraints are being faced by private operators due to their procurement challenges, which is why lines are being observed at PSU auto LPG pumps. Wherever the autos are dual feed and can use petrol, they are being encouraged to use petrol," it said.
