Category: NORTH EAST

• ASSAM
• MANIPUR
• MEGHALAYA
• MIZORAM
• NAGALAND
• ARUNACHAL PRADESH

The impasse that resulted from the Election Commission's (EC) decision to set up special polling stations along the Mizoram-Tripura border for the Reang tribal refugees to vote in the Lok Sabha polls, continued on Thursday.

Within a day of Congress President Rahul Gandhi kick-starting the party's election campaign in Manipur, five former party MLAs and many workers quit the party on Thursday and joined a regional outfit.

About the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Gandhi calls the "Gabbar Singh Tax", he said it was introduced to benefit Modi's "wealthy friends while the small and medium traders were hit below the belt". 

Speaking of New Delhi's developmental initiatives in Afghanistan which have generated huge goodwill there, Khalvatgar pointed out that Afghanistan is the second-largest recipient of aid from India after Bhutan.

Security has been heightened along the country's borders with Bangladesh in Tripura and Myanmar in Mizoram, although there were no immediate reports of any disturbances, a paramilitary official said here on Friday.

He said the Manipur government had approached the Central government for implementing the National Register of Citizens in the state as in Assam. This will help the police identify and arrest foreigners, he added.

The Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday froze its decision on the controversial permanent residence certificate (PRC) that triggered widespread violence for a third day, leading to the torching of the Deputy Chief Minister's house.

The tragedy struck the tea gardens of Golaghat and Jorhat after a large number of people consumed spurious liquor on Thursday night at the Salmora tea estate in Golaghat, 300 km from here, and in two villages in Jorhat district.

Around 12,018 voters from among the over 35,000 Reang tribal immigrants were enrolled in the electoral list of Mizoram till last year and 60 per cent of them cast votes in the November 28 Mizoram Assembly polls.

At least 22 persons have died and over 30 others taken ill after consuming spurious liquor at a tea garden in Assam's Golaghat district, police said on Friday.

Former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Thursday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would have been passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday by the BJP government if the Congress-led Opposition was not there.

Zoramthanga, who is also the President of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), appealed to the people, NGOs, churches and political parties to join hands and stand united in case there is a bid to reintroduce the CAB in Parliament.

Normal life came to standstill in Nagaland on Monday as a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, evoked total response.

With weeks to go for the announcement of the 17th Lok Sabha election dates, the Election Commission has begun preparations in the Northeastern states, a top election official said on Tuesday.

A senior BJP leader confirmed this on Friday and said that the Prime Minister will arrive in Guwahati on February 8. "The Prime Minister is also scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura to inaugurate some developmental projects," he said.

Eleven northeastern political parties came together on Tuesday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and decided to appeal to the Central government to scrap the legislation.

The official said Modi will arrive in Arunachal on February 9 to inaugurate the Hollongi airport and later that day address a public gathering in Agartala at the Swami Vivekananda Ground after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of several projects.

Sarma's statement came a day after student outfits from all the northeastern states under the banner of North East Students' Organization (NESO) gathered in Guwahati on Wednesday and warned the BJP-led government at the Centre and the state against the Bill. 

However, this strict law will cause serious loss for the licensed liquor barons which are fifty in number throughout the eight districts of the state. It will also cause incurring huge loss for two authorized bar owners, informed the sources.

The MNF in the November 28 Assembly polls secured 26 seats, five more than an absolute majority in the 40-member Assembly, ousting the Congress from power in its last bastion in northeast India.

Welcomed by thunderous chants of "Mary Mary" at the jampacked K.D. Jadhav hall, the Indian took the ring with a statistical and psychological advantage over her Ukrainian opponent, whom she recently beat at the Silesian Women's Open semi-finals in Poland.

The Election Commission would set up polling stations at Kanhmun, a village along the Mizoram-Tripura border, to facilitate voting by the tribal refugees, sheltered in Tripura for the past 21 years, official said here on Wednesday.

Over 35,000 Reang tribal refugees, comprising 5,907 families, fled from Mizoram and have been staying in Tripura's Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions for the past 21 years following ethnic tension after a Mizo forest official was killed in the neighbouring state.

Meanwhile, the ruling Congress suffered a major setback after state Home Minister and senior party leader R. Lalzirliana and three sitting legislators, Lalrinliana Sailo, Buddha Dhan Chakma, both former ministers, and Hmingdailova Khiangte resigned from the party.

Seven of the northeastern states are divided into three meteorological sub-divisions -- Assam and Meghalaya; Arunachal Pradesh; and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The eighth state, Sikkim, along with north West Bengal, form a separate sub-division.