gaddam@remus.rutgers.edu (Surekha Reddy Gaddam) (04/25/91)
The dates for polls for the lower house of parliament and assembly in the eastern state of Assam and the northern state of Punjab have been announced. While Assam will have a two day poll on the 6th and 8th of June, Punjab will go to polls on 22nd of June(this year). Announcing this in New Delhi today, the chief election commissioner Mr.T.N.Sheshan said the poll process will be completed in Assam on 12th June while in Punjab on the 25th of June. The nominations process in these two states which began on the 19th of this month will come to an end tomorrow along with other states. Scrutiny will be done on Saturday and the last day for withdrawal will be the 29th of this month. The BJP, CPI(M) say, they along with Cong(I) and CPI have decided to participate in the elections in Punjab and Assam with the present schedule of dates for nominations. The BJP leader Mr.L.K.Advani has urged all political parties to plan a joint strategy to contest the ensuing elections in Punjab to isolate militants and separatist groups. The Janata Dal will contest in Punjab but will have no truck with Cong(I) or BJP. According to the party spokesman Mr.Jaipal Reddy the party also will not align with Akali Dal. The Punjab govt has decided to undertake a crash exercise to review all cases of detainees other than terrorists. Cases (pending) over twenty years will be separated from others and will be reviewed on priority basis. In Punjab, security forces have arrested 30 militants in separate encounters in three districts. Ten militans were killed in these encounters. In the Kashmir Valley one hard core terrorist was captured by the security forces; a large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered. The president who is on an eight day state visit arrived in Hanoi. Narotham Reddy -- =============================== Edited by Surekha Reddy Gaddam