Opposition parties in Assam decide to form anti-BJP front for 2026 Assembly polls
Guwahati: Seven Opposition parties including Congress in Assam on Wednesday decided to form an anti-BJP front for the Assembly elections expected to take place next year.
The parties in the proposed Opposition bloc are the Congress, the Raijor Dal, the Assam Jatiya Parishad, the Anchalik Gana Morcha, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the All-Party Hill Leaders’ Conference.
The All India United Democratic Front, which had contested the 2021 polls in seat-sharing arrangements with the Congress, is not part of the bloc, as reported by Deccan Herald. However, sources quoted by the newspaper did not rule out the possibility of a post-poll alliance with Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF.
After a two-hour meeting of the eight-party alliance on Wednesday, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Gaurav Gogoi stated that the coalition had been formed to liberate the people of the state from the "corruption and oppression" of the current government.
"We all had an eagerness to contest the next Assembly elections together in order to free the people of Assam from the harassment, corruption and divisive politics of BJP and Himanta Biswa Sarma government. Today, we have taken that decision to unseat BJP,” DH quoted him as saying.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, downplayed the formation of the new bloc. “Such meetings of Opposition parties and subsequent quarrels among themselves are common. Now that elections are around the corner, we will see more such meetings,” The Hindu quoted the BJP leader as saying.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that BJP is likely to contest the polls in alliance with Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People's Front (BPF).
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
