GUWAHATI, April 29: It's official now. State Congress president Tarun Gogoi will be the party's Chief Ministerial candidate if the party is in a position to form the next government in the State after the May 10 polls. The announcement to this effect was made by the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Kamal Nath during a news conference here this afternoon. Gogoi, currently an MP, was also present during the announcement. "Under the leadership of Tarun Gogoi, the Congress will give a government to Assam which will make the future of the youths of Assam secure", Nath...

IMPHAL, April 29: BJP national general secretary PB Acharya today asserted that his party was ready to withdraw from the People's Front led by Radhabinod Koijam if the Government fails to redress the problems of the people. Speaking during a reception accorded to MLAs W Thoiba and K Raina who had joined the BJP recently at the residence of BJP president Meinam Bhorot at Nagamapal Meinam Leikai today, Acharya, however, said the party will continue its full support to the Government for the present. Acharya who is also the Northeast border State's in-charge criticized the People's Front...

IMPHAL, April 29: Close on the heels of Chief Minister sounding a stern warning against the agitating MSF members, police started cracking down on the student body today and arrested its publicity secretary, Y Nando this morning. The police also arrested four others including Nando's elder sister and two brothers. MSF general secretary, H Ashirjit's father H Ito Singh (55) was also picked up by the police from his residence at Khurai Chingangbam Leikai. Sources said the MSF publicity secretary was arrested from his house at Ucheckon Takhok Mapan today at about 8 am by a police team. The police...

NELLIE, April 29: If Sirajjul Khan dreads something, it is the possibility of the AGP-BJP alliance winning the May 10 elections. One of the few survivors of the carnage at Nellie in 1983, Sirajjul makes no bones about his dislike for the BJP. And now that the ruling AGP has aligned with the saffron party, he has absolutely no doubt that the minorities in the state are in for a hard time. "One party has destroyed a mosque, while the other cannot be relied on. The AGP did not do anything for us during its five-year term in Dispur," he says. Sirajjul, a small-time contractor, says he cannot...

KOHIMA, April 29: The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) said with the year-long ceasefire agreement reached with the Centre on Saturday, the political settlement to the Naga problem has set in motion, reports PTI. "A political settlement to the protracted Naga problem is under way with the bilateral ceasefire ground rules reached between NSCN-K and the Centre," Ghukato Assumi, the NSCN-K's information and publicity in-charge, said here. Stating that the NSCN-K had the support of the Nagas to settle the vexed problem, Assumi said the outfit would take "extensive public opinion...