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Cong bid to woo NE tribal voters

By Spl CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, March 26 � The Congress, in a bid to woo the tribal people of the North-east, has promised Sixth Schedule status to 10 autonomous councils.

In a short film titled Story of Manifesto, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was shown promising that 10 of the 12 autonomous councils in Assam would be accorded Sixth Schedule status. Gandhi had travelled to 27 locations in five months to get feedback from the ground in a pre-manifesto exercise.

Meanwhile, the Congress manifesto released with much fanfare at its 24 Akbar Headquarters by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in presence of top leaders including Rahul Gandhi, identified Left wing extremism as the biggest threat.

�Safety of our people is our topmost priority. Our approach to combating terrorism and Naxalism has brought peace to Kashmir and the North-East. In 2004, there were 2,665 reported incidents of terror and 707 civilian casualties. We brought this down to 220 incidents and 15 casualties in 2012.

�Left wing extremism will be dealt with, with a firm hand. We will strengthen our security forces deployed in LWE-affected areas by augmenting equipment, infrastructure and manpower, while also pursuing a development agenda to empower locals,� the Congress manifesto said.

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