Guwahati: If the development plank the Congress rode on in the two previous elections endeared itself to voters in Assam, the near-absence of militancy for a considerable time made the party's position stronger in the 2011 assembly election.
Absence of major militant violence ever since the arrest of top NDFB and ULFA leaders, including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and others, two years ago and their participation in the peace process were evidently given thumbs up by the voters who elected the party to the third consecutive term.
Unlike the earlier elections since 1991 held under the shadow of insurgent violence, the two-phased polls on April 4 and 11 were held peacefully with the major militant outfits like the ULFA and NDFB keeping out of the democratic process and instead engaging in peace talks with the government.
Tarun Gogoi would become only the second person in the turbulent history of the state after Bimala Prasad Chaliha to adorn the chief minister's post for the third consecutive term....
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04:09 PM, May 14, 2011
