Mizoram opposition to form united front to challenge Congress

October 1st, 2009 KOLKATA - After a long-drawn tug of war over the mayor's seat in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, the Congress finally formed the city civic board Thursday with the support of West Bengal's ruling Left Front (LF), leaving its national alliance partner Trinamool Congress high and dry. Trinamool Congress, which is an ally of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, decided to part with its partner and chose to sit in the opposition in the municipal corporation.

July 17th, 2009 AIZAWL - The Mizoram government would help in rehabilitation of surrendered terrorists rather than giving them financial support, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said here Friday. "Not giving cash would show others that being an insurgent does not pay any dividends," he said while speaking at the 'homecoming' ceremony of 64 Sinlung People's Liberation Army (SPLA) cadre who have laid down their arms.

May 16th, 2009 AIZAWL - The ruling Congress Saturday won the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram defeating an independent candidate supported by the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) and Mizoram Peoples' Conference (MPC) combine, an official here said. Congress aspirant C.L.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Admitting that the Congress party was in a position to form the next government, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan Saturday said that they would, like always, sit in opposition and fight for poor people's causes.

May 16th, 2009 GUWAHATI - The Congress was leading in 16 of the 24 seats in the northeast followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three and the Left parties in two. According to latest trends available, the Congress was leading in 10 of the 14 seats in Assam followed by the BJP with three and the Bodoland People's Front, an ally of the Congress, in one seat.

May 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat Saturday ruled out any alliance with the ruling Congress or the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the ongoing general elections, shortly after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Congress was ready to take the Left's help to form the next government, though the India-US nuclear deal was non-negotiable. 'We have made it already clear that we are not going to do so (align with the Congress,' CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat told CNN-IBN.

April 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Left parties will not prop up a Congress-led government, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated Wednesday. Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh two days ago hinted at tying up with them after polls, Karat said the Left parties would prefer to sit in opposition in case the Third Front fails to form the government.

April 21st, 2009 PATNA - Congress leader and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated Tuesday that Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad was no longer an ally of the party. 'It has become difficult to keep him as an ally.

April 1st, 2009 AIZAWL - The battle lines are drawn for elections to the lone parliamentary seat in Mizoram with the fight expected to be between the ruling Congress party and the independent candidate backed by a combine of the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) and Mizoram People's Conference (MPC). Four candidates, C.L.

March 18th, 2009 KOLKATA - CPM veteran Jyoti Basu Jyoti Basu has said that it would be tough for the 'Third Front' to win the general polls and form a government. "It will be tough for the 'Third Front' to form the Central Government, as far as my knowledge is concerned," said Basu.

March 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee Saturday ridiculed the newly-formed Third Front, saying it could never come to power on its own. 'I do not understand the nomenclature the Third Front is using.

March 3rd, 2009 RANCHI - Unhappy with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) over not getting support to form an alternative government in the state, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) said Tuesday it will form a third front with smaller parties to fight the Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand. 'We are in favour of forming a third front with support of the Left and smaller parties of the state,' Dulal Bhuiya, national general secretary of JMM, told IANS Tuesday.

March 3rd, 2009 KOLKATA - The ruling Left Front partners in West Bengal Monday said the electoral tie-up between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls would pose a formidable challenge to the communists parties who have been ruling the state uninterrupted since 1977. 'It'll definitely be a tough challenge for all the Left Front partners in the coming election if the Congress and Trinamool form an alliance and fight unitedly against the communists in the Lok Sabha election,' Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) central committee member Binoy Konar told IANS Monday.

January 31st, 2009 AGARTALA - The repatriation of 35,000 Reang tribal refugees from Tripura to Mizoram hangs in balance with the new Mizoram government yet to take any decision on resolving the ethnic problem in the state. Over 35,000 people, including 12,000 children, belonging to the Reang tribe are living in six relief camps in northern Tripura since October 1997 following ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos in Mizoram.

January 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will Monday discuss the crisis in the party's Kerala unit after the Congress objected to it being included in the United Democratic Front (UDF). The party is waiting for NCP president union minister Sharad Pawar to reach New Delhi before discussing the issue Monday, senior NCP leader D.P.