Assam

Guwahati, Jun 11 (PTI) The opposition Congress and AIUDF along with a minority student body on Friday termed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement asking the minority community to adopt a decent family planning policy as "unfortunate, frivolous and misleading".

Guwahati, May 24 (PTI) Defending the proposed cow protection bill in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the ruling BJP on Monday said beef should not be consumed in places where Hindus live and the bovine is worshipped.

During a discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address in Assam Assembly, the opposition AIUDF feared that the propsed bill will encourage incidents of mob lynching like those in the "cow belt" in northern India.

Guwahati, May 9 (PTI) Assams COVID-19 tally rose to 2,92,368 on Sunday as 3,299 more people tested positive for the infection while 48 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,676, the National Health Mission (NHM) bulletin said.

The state, however, reported more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases in a single day as 4,045 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Guwahati, May 10 (PTI) North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma was on Monday sworn-in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam by Governor Jagadish Mukhi at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here.

Sarma, clad in traditional 'pat silk' dhoti and kurta with a muga 'gamosa' draped around his neck, took the oath of office and secrecy in Assamese.

Along with him, 13 other legislators were also sworn- in as ministers amid strict COVID-19 protocols.

Guwahati, May 9 (PTI) North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma has been unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party on Sunday and consequently will soon be invited to form government as the Chief Minister of the state, central observer and Union Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Sunday.

Sarma's name was proposed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by BJP state party president Ranjeet Kumar Dass and newly elected Haflong MLA Nandita Garlosa.

Guwahati, May 3 (PTI) BJP, which has emerged victorious in the Assam assembly elections for the second successive time, has garnered 33.21 per cent share of the votes, according to the Election Commission.

Its alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad got 7.91 per cent, while UPA major Congress registered 29.67 per cent and AIUDF 9.29 per cent.

Sibsagar (Assam), May 3 (PTI) Jailed anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi became the first Assamese to win an election without hitting the campaign trail, as he clinched the Sibsagar constituency, defeating his nearest rival Surabhi Rajkonwari of the BJP by a decisive 11,875 votes.

The founder of the newly floated Raijor Dal -- arrested in December 2019 over sedition charges -- bagged 57,219 votes as an Independent, garnering support from 46.06 per cent of the electorate.

Guwahati, May 2 (PTI) The ruling BJP-led alliance is set to make a comeback in Assam in the first Assembly election after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was enacted with the declaration of results on Sunday, although winning less number of seats compared to the 2016 polls.

The alliance has won or is leading so far in 72 seats (48 wins and 24 leads) out of the 126 constituencies of the state and 64 seats are needed to get a simple majority.

Guwahati, May 2 (PTI) Elated over the initial trends of Assam poll results, which showed that the BJP has an edge over its rivals, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday exuded confidence that the saffron party-led alliance will retain power in the state.

The ruling BJP-led NDA is surging ahead of the Grand Alliance spearheaded by the Congress in Assam, leading in 77 of the 119 seats, trends available on the Election Commission website at 12.15 pm showed.

Guwahati/Shillong/Itanagar, Apr 28 (PTI) Seven back- to-back earthquakes jolted Assam and some other northeastern states on Wednesday morning, causing extensive damage to buildings and forcing people to scamper out of their homes.

The first of the shocks of 6.4 magnitude with its epicentre at 43 km west of Tezpur, the district headquarters of Sonitpur district in Assam, was felt at 7.51 am, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Deputy Director Sanjay O'neil Shaw said.