Sonia Gandhi campaigns in Asom
by Peter Alex Todd

     Guwahati: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has arrived in Asom to campaign for her party ahead of next week's State Assembly elections. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, would campaign in the north-eastern state on April 1 and 2. Election in Asom are being held in two phases on April 3 and 10, respectively. During her visit on Thursday, Gandhi will address public meetings in upper and lower Asom, besides the Barak Valley, APCC media incharge I P Hazarika said. Gandhi is scheduled to address a meeting at Silchar in the Barak Valley followed by meetings in upper Asom's Nazira and Jorhat. She would then campaign at Chaygaon near Guwahati before departing for Delhi in the evening, Hazarika said.

    The Prime Minister is scheduled to make a two-day visit from April 1 for the second phase of polling addressing meetings at Nalbari and Sualkuchi of lower Asom, besides addressing a press conference in Guwahati on the day of his arrival. The next day he would campaign at Dongkamokam in Karbi Anglong district and Tezpur in the north bank before flying out to Delhi from there, Hazarika said. The battle lines for the polls are already drawn with the Congress taking on the AGP, even as other parties are trying to influence the electoral balance and have their own say in government formation. There are a number of kingmakers doing the rounds ahead of the elections. Illegal influx of Bangladeshis into Assam tops the campaign issue for opposition Asom Gana Parishad and BJP for the forthcoming assembly polls in the state with ruling Congress trying hard to underplay it. The BJP is most vocal on the issue with all national leaders who are campaigning in the state focussed on the influx of foreigners and consequent demographic change that it has brought about. The BJP leaders are also harping constantly on how they had been demanding continuously the repeal of the IMDT Act and had brought a bill in Parliament for its scrapping, The IMDT Act was finally scrapped by the Supreme Court on July 12, 2005, but the UPA government at the Centre is trying to circumvent the court order by amending the Foreigners' Act to include the features of the scrapped Act. Political parties are also focussing their attention on the insurgency issue in their bid to capture the votebank. The 27- year-old Asom insurgency problem is also at the top of the agendas of all political parties.

Rahul meets party workers in Amethi

     Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): The Congress party Lok Sabha member, Rahul Gandhi, who is on a three-day visit to his parliamentary constituency, Amethi, on Thursday interacted with party workers, panchayat leaders and scores of other people for over three hours. Rahul, who arrived here on Wednesday, is also scheduled to visit some villages later in the day, besides holding a separate meeting with Panchayat leaders. Rahul is likely to discuss with them ways to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions. On Wednesday, the Congress leader visited several villages of his constituency and met villagers, particularly those belonging to scheduled caste and other backward classes. Rahul, while talking to villagers, assured them of all possible help for the development of their areas. In this regard, he also asked the people of Barsanda village to adopt new techniques for better results, while emphasising on the field of agriculture. Rahul's visit to Amethi has come just a day after Congress party president Sonia Gandhi visited her parliamentary constituency, Rae Bareli, for the first time after resigning from the Lok Sabha over the "office of profit" issue.

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