Guwahati Diary

Badruddin Ajmal keeps everyone guessing
Is MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal (in pic) cozying up to the saffrons? He was in friendly terms with the Congress during UPA regime. Recently, the Lok Sabha member was effusive in his praise for CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. So, when he made an appeal to the Muslims in the state to not sacrifice cows but other animals during Eid-ul-Adha, some people thought the Dhubri MP was trying to keep the BJP in good humour. Some others linked it to his business interests. The All India United Democratic Front chief’s perfume (agar) business is spread across India and the Gulf countries. “He has more interest in his agar business than in anything. So, he can make any statement to protect his business interests in the BJP raj,” Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said.

Border row: 50-50 could be the template
Words have it at Dispur – Assam’s seat of power – that the state will try and adopt the 50-50 template to resolve boundary disputes. The reason why it is favoured is that it leaves the states in a win-win situation. It was effective in the case of the row with Meghalaya. They more or less resolved the problem in 6 of the 12 friction points. Now, Assam is trying to solve the problem with Arunachal keeping in view historical perspective, administrative convenience, contiguity of the land and people’s sentiments. But officials indicated both states might rely on the 50-50 template. Assam also has “complex” boundary disputes with Nagaland and Mizoram.

2K ‘illegal’ postings set tongues wagging
Alleged corruption through appointments in the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has set tongues wagging in government circles. People are baffled thinking as to how 2,274 persons could be appointed in the ASTC, allegedly through illegal means. These people landed the contractual jobs in the past two years. After the same was detected, the government decided to conduct a probe. Chandra Mohan Patowary was the state transport minister when the appointments were made. The Dharmapur MLA is now the state forest minister.  

Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com