Politicians throng Asom after ULFA's carnage

Guwahati, Jan 8 (UNI) The politicians, with their usual baggage of speech, thronged Upper Asom with the state government being forced to appeal to the national leaders to defer their visit and not ''flare up'' communal tension.

As the death toll in ULFA's strikes against the Hindi-speaking community reached 66 since Friday night, the number of politicians making a beeline for the worst-hit Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts also increased.

With the district administration in complete disarray, the administration is busy arranging the safe journeys of the VVIPs than actually handling the situation.

While Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, the 'saviour' of the Biharis is in the state today, three other ministers from Bihar are concluding their two-day visit. BJP national president Rajnath Singh is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and Samajwadi Party supremo Amar Singh is also expected soon.

Union Home Minister of State Sriprakash Jaiswal came calling yesterday and some senior faces in the Gogoi Cabinet, including Mr Pradyut Bordoloi and Mr Prithbi Majhi, had been camping in the affected districts since Saturday.

President A P J Abdul Kalam, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, besides several other political party leaders and other organisations, have condemned the attacks.

Even as the security forces worked over time to check any fresh incident, the political leaders were seen criticising the government and blaming the forces for the carnage instead of attempting to pacify the terror-ridden people.

The main Opposition party in the state, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), today demanded resignation of the Congress-led state government.

A conglomerate of 12 parties, led by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, took out a protest procession today joining in the demand for President's Rule in the state.

The Left parties in the state as well as the state unit of the BJP joined in the chorus of demanding Tarun Gogoi's ouster.

However, the state government, already under pressure to ensure no occuroence of the attacks, came in the open, alleging that the Opposition parties were politicising the issue.

Government spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma today said, ''The political parties should think twice before demanding President's Rule.'' ''Mr Mahanta, a former chief minister himself, led a delegation to the Raj Bhawan a day after the massacre of 48 people, asking for President's Rule,'' he said, adding the need of the hour was to come with a strategy to consolidate the situation.

He appealed to the VVIPs to defer their visits to the state to a later date as it would put additional pressure on the security forces, already hard pressed to check such strikes.

Despite government assurances, the protestors continued to block National Highway in Tinsukia with bodies of the victims.

UNI