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North East People's Forum formed

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI Sept. 19. A North East People's Forum comprising two national parties— the BJP and the NCP — and 13 regional ones was formally launched here today, with the biggest Opposition party in Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad refusing to join.

The Assam BJP president, Rajen Gohain, the Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Bijoya Chakraborty, Rajya Sabha member Indramoni Bora, organisation in-charge for the north-east V. Sateesh, and the West Bengal party chief, Tathagata Roy, were present on the occasion. Other luminaries included the NCP general secretary, P.A. Sangma, and the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Mizoram, Neiphieu Rio and Zoramthanga respectively.

The Union Minister without portfolio and West Bengal Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, flew in for a couple of hours, unleashed an anti-CPI(M) tirade before flying back to Kolkata.

The leaders claimed that the anti-Congress, anti-Left Forum had nothing to do with the elections but were only interested in "addressing the real problems of the trouble-torn region." They did not explain how this could be done by keeping out the Congress and the Left parties which ruled four of the seven States in the region. However, one of the general secretaries, B.B. Dutta of the NCP, let the cat out of the bag when he told reporters that eventually the regional constituents would join the National Democratic Alliance. He said that before the Lok Sabha elections next year there might be "more realignments", suggesting that the parties might join the BJP.

Mr. Rio, who was made chairman of the Forum, said six committees had been formed on insurgency, infiltration, political reforms, electoral reforms, unemployment and development.

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