ULFA washes hands off elections

The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has said it will maintain equidistance from all political parties in the run-up to next month's assembly elections.

The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has said it will maintain equidistance from all political parties in the run-up to next month's assembly elections in Assam.

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"The elections are nothing but yet another attempt by the Indian rulers to establish their colonial rule in Assam," ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said in a statement.

The rebel statement said there was no difference between the Congress, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and even the Communist Party of India (CPI) and all the political parties were the same.

"Elections in Assam have produced a line of public enemies like Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Chief minister Tarun Gogoi. If AGP leader Brindaban Goswami becomes the next chief minister he shall become a public enemy as well," the ULFA leader said.

The rebel group expressed anger at the fact that all political parties were maintaining double standards with regard to solving the insurgency problem in Assam.

"The Assam-India conflict does not figure in any of the political parties' manifestoes and without solving this main issue how can any government promise of being the saviours of Assam," Rajkhowa said.

ULFA's statement assumes significance as political parties were apprehensive that the outfit might back the ruling Congress party in the April 3 and April 10 elections following two rounds of peace talks between rebel representatives and government negotiators in New Delhi.