Trump launches global anti-drug campaign; India signed pledge
United Nations, Sep 24 : US President Donald Trump launched on Monday a global campaign against the "scourge of drugs" with links to terrorism and asked for coordinated action to "save the lives of countless people in all corners of the world".
India is one of about 130 countries that have signed the pledge to fight the drug menace that was drafted by Trump to launch his campaign.
The signatories commit to developing national action against drug addiction, block at their borders and strengthen international cooperation against drug trafficking.
"Illicit drugs are linked to organized crime, illegal financial flows, corruption and terrorism," Trump said in a brief speech at the High-Level Event on Counter-Narcotics convened by him on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly meeting that brings together world leaders.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres backed him with a call for "targeting the links between drugs, corruption, arms, human trafficking and terrorist networks" and "improved intelligence-sharing and analysis across the entire drug supply chain".
"Denying safe haven to drug traffickers - and better cross-border cooperation to pursue kingpins and dismantle networks," was essential, he added.
While Trump has been a critic of the UN, this time he gave it some credit, saying" "The UN has plenty of potential and that potential is being met, slowly but surely."
On Sunday, Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, told reporters that India was an early cosponsor of the pledge and noted that drug trafficking was used to finance terrorism, which impacts India horrendously.
Highlighting the magnitude of the problem, Guterres said that about 450,000 people die every year from drug overdose and 31 million people around the world required treatment for addiction.
According to US government data, 72,000 people died from drug overdose, mainly due to opioid use.
Fighting addiction is a personal crusade for Trump who has said he does not even take alcohol after seeing his brother die of alcoholism.
Moreover, his primary voter base of white working and lower middle class people are bearing the brunt of the opioid crisis in the US from the misuse of pharmaceuticals.
Some international leaders boycotted the meeting and refused to sign the pledge.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is among them, said that her country preferred an approach more suited to her country and one that emphasised a health-based approach.
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Assam polls: Cong announces first list of 42 candidates, Gaurav to contest from Jorhat
Guwahati (PTI): The opposition Congress on Tuesday took the lead in announcing its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, with it comprising both sitting MLAs and former ministers, and also new faces, including sons of three prominent politicians.
The party's chief ministerial candidate and state president Gaurav Gogoi will contest from the prestigious Jorhat assembly constituency, currently held by BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha will make his first electoral foray for the assembly.
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Gogoi is currently the party MP from the Jorhat parliamentary constituency and previously represented Kaliabor twice before it was reconstituted during the delimitation exercise in the state.
The leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia, will contest from the family stronghold of Nazira, which he has represented since 2016. His father, former chief minister Hiteswar Saikia, and his mother, Hemoprava Saikia, previously represented the constituency.
Three sitting MLAs -- Nandita Das from Hajo-Sualkuchi, Diganta Barman from Barkhetry and Nurul Huda from Rupohihat -- have also been included in the list.
Das, a two-time MLA, had earlier contested from Boko but following the delimitation exercise in the state, she has been shifted to Hajo-Sualkuchi while Barman and Huda will contest from the same seats they represented in the current assembly.
Former minister and state Congress president Ripun Bora will contest from Barchalla while another former minister, Ajit Singh, will contest from Udharbond constituency in Barak Valley.
Former minister and Deputy Speaker Pranati Phukan, a four-time MLA till 2016, will contest from Naharkatia in Upper Assam.
Tanzil Hussain, son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, will contest from Samaguri where he had lost to BJP's Diplu Ranjan Sarmah in the 2024 by-elections which was necessitated following the election of the senior Hussain to Lok Sabha.
Prateek Bordoloi, son of Nagaon MP Prodyut Bordoloi, will contest the Margherita seat which was represented by his father thrice since 2001.
Former five-time MP and prominent tea tribe leader Paban Singh Ghatowar's son Pranjal Ghatowar will contest from the Chabua-Lahowal seat.
Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur, who had unsuccessfully contested the last parliamentary polls from Gauhati, has been given the ticket for the prestigious Dispur constituency.
Former BJP MLA Ashok Sarma, who was denied ticket by the ruling party in 2021 and went on to join the Congress in 2024, will contest from his previous Nalbari seat.
Another former BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar, who joined the Congress in 2024, will contest from Sonai constituency in Barak Valley.
Former AGP MLA Satyabrat Kalita, who joined the Congress in September 2025, will contest from Kamalpur seat.
Other prominent faces in the list include former Congress MLAs Durga Bhumij from Doomdooma, Binanda Kumar Saikia from Sipahjhar and Bubul Das from Jagiroad (SC) constituency.
The Congress is a leading part of the unified opposition alliance, 'Asom Sonmilito Morcha', formed to challenge the ruling BJP, and has entered into seat-sharing arrangements with the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the Left, but is yet to finalise it with Raijor Dal.
Presently, the ruling BJP's strength in the 126-member 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 an Independent legislator as well.
