The Hindu : New Delhi News : Call for boycott of panchayat elections

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Sunday, Dec 23, 2007
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Call for boycott of panchayat elections

Special Correspondent

Guwahati: Organisations of the six communities of Assam — Koch-Rajbanshis, Morans, Muttocks, Tea-tribe/Adivasis, Tai-Ahoms and Chutias — seeking Scheduled Tribe status, on Saturday issued a call for boycotting the panchayat polls to press their demand.

A meeting of the coordination committee of these organisations decided that each would issue an appeal to their respective community to boycott the three-phase polls scheduled for December 31, January 4 and 9, said Prahlad Gowala, president of the All Assam Tea-Tribe Students’ Association (AATTSA).

The committee had called for a 36-hour Assam bandh on December 30-31 to press for ST status.

Earlier the coordination committee had turned down an invitation by Union Tribal Affairs Minister P.R. Kyndiah for a meeting in Delhi on December 18 to discuss the ST issue.

Mr. Gowala said the AATTSA had issued the boycott call and clamped a ban on entry of political parties in tea-tribe and adivasi-dominated areas.

“Saturday’s meeting decided that other constituents of the coordination committee would issue a boycott call to their respective communities,” he told The Hindu.

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