A Guwahati court has directed the police to register a case against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly saying that the last year’s eviction drive in Garukhuti village of Darrang district was an “act of revenge”.

The court direction came on the basis of a petition filed by Congress Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque. In his complaint, the Congress MP stated that Mr Sarma had stated that the eviction exercise at Gorukhuti in Darang district was ‘revenge’ for the incidents of 1983 – when some youths there were killed during the Assam Agitation.

Mr Khaleque had approached the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, alleging police inaction after the Dispur police station did not register an FIR against the Chief Minister.

Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Biswadeep Baruah in his order on Saturday, a copy of which is available with NDTV, directed the Dispur police station to register the complaint against Mr Sarma.

“The OC (officer-in-charge) Dispur police station is directed to register a case on the allegations mentioned in the complaint and investigate the matter fairly and to submit the Final Form at the earliest,” the court order said.

“The police had failed in the discharge of its duty by failing to register the FIR. The veracity of the allegations is not something which can be enquired prior to the registration of the FIR. By failing to even register the FIR, it appears that the police has failed in the discharge of its duty.” it added.

The Assam government’s eviction drive in Darrang district, which was aimed at removing “illegal encroachers”, had turned violent leaving two people, including a 12-year-old, dead.

The Assam Congress MP, in his complaint, accused the chief minister of making communal statements against a particular community while justifying the eviction drive which left over 7,000 people homeless.

The ruling BJP and its ally Asom Gana Parishad got majority in 77 municipal boards polls in Assam. The BJP won maximum seats in 75 boards while Asom Gana Parishad has majority in 2 municipal boards. Congress won 1 board and independent candidates got majority in 2 remaining boards. The polls were held for 977 seats in 80 municipal boards.

BJP won 742 and alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad got 65 seats. Opposition Congress won 71 seats while Independent and other parties got 99 seats. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the result reiterated the people’s trust on the leadership and vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Assam Government has approved replacing ballot papers with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the upcoming Guwahati Municipal Corporation polls. The announcement was made during the weekly Cabinet meeting chaired by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022 has been approved. With the passage of this bill, EVMs will be used instead of ballot papers, which will ensure transparency and efficiency in voting,” Sarma tweeted.

Several other decisions including repealing of obsolete laws, revision of land premium rates, ease of doing business, ensuring safety of workers, empowering law enforcers, raising loan from NABARD were also taken during the meeting.

Sixty five point one five (65. 15%) polling percent have been reported at Majuli bypolls till last report came in. CEO Nitin Khade said that polling was peaceful and there was no report of any error during the polls.

Three candidates are in the fray for Majuli seat which was earlier represented by former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who is now a minister in Modi cabinet. Counting of votes will be held on 10th of this month.

Sleuths of the Chief Minister’s Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Cell on Sunday arrested two tax officers from Assam’s Morigaon district on corruption charges.

According to reports, after receiving the report of the same, the Directorate laid a trap and arrested Sonit Borthakur, Superintendent of Taxes, Morigaon.

He had allegedly sought Rs 30,000 from the complainant for absolving him from tax liability and penalty.

The Directorate also scanned his residence in neighbouring Nagaon. Recently, an of the state agriculture department was arrested for taking bribe. He was identified as Papori Das who was the senior assistant in Agriculture Department was caught red-handed while accepting bribe worth Rs 15,000.

A massive fire broke out in the market area of Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district on Sunday. As soon as the fire tenders receive the news of the same, they rushed to the spot to douse the fire.

According to reports, the fire broke out due to a short circuit and has engulfed many grocery shops and godowns in the market.

However, as per the report, so far, no casualty has been reported. The reports further claimed that property worth crores of rupees has been destroyed in the devastating fire that erupted in the morning hours.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged the centre to immediately put a complete ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI). Since the statement has come amid the ongoing hijab row, a few people are relating it with hijab.

However, the chief minister asserted that his stand on the PFI is “not because of the hijab issue.” “Assam has urged the central government to immediately impose a complete ban on PFI, not because of the hijab issue.

This is their democratic right, but because of their direct participation in subversive activities and radicalization,” he was quoted as saying by ANI on Saturday.

Recently, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that there should be no controversy regarding Hijab. Quran Sharif focuses on education, not hijab. ”It is important to understand whether education or hijab is more important.

The biggest responsibility of Muslims is education,” Assam CM made this statement amid the controversy over the hijab in Karnataka. Notably, these days Assam CM is the headlines sometimes for questioning the parenthood of Rahul Gandhi and sometimes for seeking suggestions from the public to change the names of places reflecting the culture, tradition and civilization of the state.

In a bid to finalise their party candidate for Majuli ahead of the upcoming bypoll, the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will meet Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi on Monday.

The bypoll to fill the Majuli seat will be held on March 7 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10 along with counting for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur assembly elections.

he Majuli seat has been vacant ever since the Sonowal elected to the Rajya Sabha and late he was inducted in the Union Cabinet. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the notification in this regard will be issued on February 10. Notably, the Majuli got the status of district when Sonowal was the Chief Minister of Assam.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday while presenting Union budget in the parliament announced a new scheme, Prime Minister’s Development Initiative (PM-DevINE) for North-East. She asserted that the PM-DevINE will be implemented through the North-Eastern Council and the government will initially allocate Rs 1,500 crore for the new scheme to fund infrastructure, in the spirit of PM GatiShakti, and social development projects based on felt needs of the North-East.

The Minister also that this will enable livelihood activities for youth and women, filling the gaps in various sectors. Notably, it will not be a substitute for existing central or state schemes.

While the central ministries may also host their projects, priority will be given to those by the states. As per the Finance Ministry, the initial projects to be funded under the scheme include Establishment of Dedicated Services for the Management of Paediatric and Adult Hematolymphoid Cancers in North East India, Guwahati (Multi-State), NECTAR Livelihood Improvement Project (Multi-State), Promoting Scientific Organic Agriculture in North East Indian (Multi-State), Construction of Aizawl By-pass on Western Side, Gap funding for Passenger Ropeway system for Pelling to Sanga-Choeling in West Sikkim, Gap funding for Eco-friendly Ropeway (Cable Car) from Dhapper to Bhaleydhunga in South Sikkim, Pilot Project for Construction of Bamboo Link Road at Different Locations in Various Districts in the State of Mizoram, among others.