AASU cautions political parties

Guwahati, Mar 23 (UNI) The All Assam Student Union(AASU) today cautioned all political parties in Asom not to use the union's name in electioneering and demanded that each of them pronounce their stand on 'known issues' of the state.

Addressing a press conference here, the AASU leadership today all parties were trying to use AASU's name to their advantage while debunking on the main issues plaguing the state.

''All political parties are seeking direct and indirect support from the AASU, which is a purely apolitical organisation and indirect appeasement attempts have been mooted by some parties,'' they said.

Led by its advisor Dr Samujjal Kr Bhattacharya, the AASU asserted it supports the 'burning issues' of Asom. ''Because we know every political party is same and only power hungry. They never try to resolve the main issues,'' Dr Bhattacharya alleged.

AASU president Shankar Prasad Ray said all the major political parties should spell out their stand on infiltration, education, unemployment, river linkage and the flood problem.

The AASU also urged the voters to keep a close watch on the activities of political parties before choosing a candidate. It in fact has called for an executive meeting to review the parties' stand next week.

The ''ultra nationalist apolitical'' image has given AASU a high moral ground and most parties are today run by former AASU leaders, he said, adding ''It is good that there are former AASU leaders in every major party. We will keep a watch over them.'' Though a number of former AASU leaders are in the fray from different parties, the organisation had washed its hands off the election process. ''We are only interested on the issues,'' Mr Ray said.

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