Congress has lost the Rajya Sabha seat to BJP after it has suspended MLA Siddique Ahmed from the primary membership of the party after he “deliberately disobeyed the three-line whip”, issued by the grand old party.

In the first seat, BJP candidate Pabitra Margherita won unopposed. The contest was for the second seat which was between UPPLs Rwngwra Narzary and Congress candidate Ripun Bora. Narzary was supported by BJP while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) was supporting Bora.

The two Rajya Sabha seats were earlier held by Congress members Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah. BJP candidate Pabitra Margherita secured 46 votes while its ally UPPL’s candidate Rwngwra Narzary secured 44 votes. Congress candidate Ripun Bora secured 35 votes whereas 1 vote was cancelled. As per reports, the vote count for Congress reduced after the party suspended Ahmed for allegedly wasting his vote by writing “One” instead of “1” on the ballot paper.

“We have suspended Siddique Ahmed from the primary membership of our party after he deliberately disobeyed the three-line whip issued by the party,” said Bhupen Bora, President of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).

The Centre has decided to reduce disturbed areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur after decades. In a series of tweets, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, the reduction in areas under the AFSPA is a result of the improved security situation and fast-tracked development due to consistent efforts and several agreements to end insurgency and bring lasting peace in the North East.

He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his unwavering commitment saying that the North-Eastern region, which was neglected for decades is now witnessing a new era of peace, prosperity and unprecedented development. The Minister congratulated the people of the North East on this momentous occasion.  

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that AFSPA will be withdrawn from 60 percent areas of the state from last night.

Talking to media in Guwahati, the Chief Minister welcomed the decision of the Centre to withdraw AFSPA partially from 3 states of the North East. Mr. Sarma said the act will be in force only in 9 districts and 1 sub- division in Assam following the decision of the Centre. He said the withdrawal of the act would boost investment in North East.  

The Chief Minister said with improvement in the law and order situation, the decision of the withdrawal of the act from the rest of the state will be taken.

On the issue of peace talks with the ULFA pro talk group, Mr. Sarma said the concerned persons have fast tracked the process. 

OIL has banned flying of drones within two-kilometre radius of any strategic or important OIL installations and has declared the specified areas as No Drone Zone.

As per directives of Resident Chief Executive, Oil India Limited (OIL), Duliajan Prasanta Borkakoty, OIL has banned flying of drones within two-kilometre radius of any strategic or important OIL installations and has declared the specified areas as No Drone Zone.

If flying is inevitably necessary for any government purpose, it is mandatory to take permission from the specific department or district administration.

Moreover, the directive has asked to hang signage in those places as warning notice.

The Assam Government on Wednesday announced to take over 400 schools in tea garden areas in order to empower boost education among youths. The decision was taken during the presentation of state budget 2022-23.

Commenting on the same, the state’s finance minister Ajanta Neog said, ” 436 schools to be brought under the ambit of state government. Also, 117 model high schools in tea to be made operational from May 10 this year.”

Meanwhile, the state government has also chalked out some plans to reduce the dropout rate of students in the tea garden areas. The Assam government will also work for skilling the tea tribe youth and organising community-based events in 800 tea gardens. Apart from these, the government has also announced to provide free textbooks to students up to graduation level. ”The state government also to initiate identification and mapping of vulnerable girl children amongst tea tribes,” she added.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that Muslims are no longer minority community now as they account for 35 percent of the total population of the state. Sarma said this while replying to a debate on Assam’s Governor speech in the Assam Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. ”Muslim population in the state which comprises 35 percent of the state’s total population, have become the largest community in the state and it is their responsibility to ensure communal harmony in Assam,” he added.

“Today the people of the Muslim community are leaders in the opposition, they are MLAs and they have equal opportunity and power. So it is their duty to protect the rights of the tribal people,” said. Sarma further said that the people of Assam are in panic and afraid of that their culture and civilization will be harmed. ”Now Muslims should talk about the preservation of culture. Now, their population is more than ours. Till ten years ago we were not a minority, but now we have joined the minority,” he said.

Commenting on the Kashmiri Hindu, who were forced to flee their homes, Sarma said, “People ask me whether the people of Assam will have the same fate as Kashmiri Pandits. Ten years later, Will Assam be as it is depicted in Bollywood. The movie ‘The Kashmir Files’? ”It is the duty of Muslims to allay our fears. Muslims should behave like majority and assure us that the Kashmir’s situation shouldn’t be repeated here,” he added.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday announced that state government employees can avail a half-day leave to watch the recently released movie “The Kashmir Files”, which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s. 

“Glad to announce that our Govt employees will be entitled for half-day special leave to watch #TheKashmirFiles. They will have to only inform their superior officers and submit the tickets the next day,” Mr Sarma said.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister, along with his entire cabinet, watched the movie at a theatre in Guwahati, and said the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits was a blot on humanity. 

“The Kashmiri Pandit genocide & their exodus are a blot on humanity. Moved by the heart-wrenching portrayal of their plight in #TheKashmirFiles, which I watched along with my Cabinet colleagues and MLAs of  @BJP4Assam & allies,” Mr Sarma said after watching the movie.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday retained the Majuli Assembly constituency in eastern Assam as its candidate Bhuban Gam won the seat defeating his nearest rival Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) nominee Chittaranjan Basumatary by a record margin of 42,141 votes, election officials said.

According to the Election Commission’s declaration, Gam secured 67,242 votes (69.86 per cent) against 25,101 votes (26.08 per cent) bagged by Basumatary and 2,265 votes (2.35 per cent) by Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) candidate Bhaity Richong.

As per the alliance with the AJP, the Congress and other opposition parties were supporting the Majuli AJP candidate. As many as 1,642 votes (1.71 per cent) were registered for NOTA. Nearly 72 per cent of the 1,33,227 voters had cast their votes in the by-election to the politically significant Majuli Assembly constituency in eastern Assam on Monday.

The by-election was necessitated after former Assam Chief Minister and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who won the seat during the 2021 Assembly elections, resigned and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in September 2021 paving the way for Himanta Biswa Sarma to become the state Chief Minister.

Notwithstanding widespread criticism, the class 10 state board examination in Assam will be held with question papers and answer sheets of 2021, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Through a notification, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) on Monday said that this year’s High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Assam High Madrassa (AHM) examinations will be held with last year’s question papers and answer booklets to cut costs.

The state-controlled SEBA conducts both HSLC and AHM examinations for the matriculation of the students of Assam.

“As the SEBA did not conduct HSLC/AHM examinations in the year 2021 in the manner conducted during pre-COVID period, the question papers and answer booklets prepared in the year 2021 remained unutilised, and are being used for the year 2022, to avoid misuse of natural resources,” the notification said.

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) Enforcement branch on Wednesday sealed eleven shops at the Dispur supermarket area of Guwahati for non-payment of room rent. Most of the shop owners in the locality have reportedly not made the payment of their room rent for a long time even after receiving repeated notices from GMC.

In a recent drive by the concerned officials, some of these shop owners in the Dispur area had faced interruption in their businesses following the seal of their rented establishments.

On Thursday 10 March, the GMC (Guwahati Municipal Corporation) had sealed a total of 11 shops at the Guwahati’s Dispur Supermarket location for not paying room rent. The Enforcement Branch in association with the GMC Market Branch conducted a drive at the area along with the city police officials.

Eleven shops operating in the GMC Market of Dispur without payment of room rent were sealed after the drive as they skipped a long period of time for payment of rent to the corporation.