BJP president Keshabhau Thakre today said that the "bad" law and order situation in Assam had led to the kidnapping of the party's nominee for the Dhubri LS seat even as the army, police and BSF contingents continued search for Pannalal Oswal who remained untraced for the fifth day. Denying that Oswal had gone to negotiate with his abductors, the Ulfa militants, minutes before he was kidnapped, Thakre said at Guwahati that party national secretary, Pyarelal Khandewal, had been sent to Dhubri to inquire on the matter.

PM shrugs off Cong stability plank

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday charged the Congress with "toppling governments at the Centre" and using its allies as "palanquin bearers" in its attempt to come to power. Addressing election meetings at Dehradun, he said the Congress, which had been reduced to a "minority", had never learnt to play the role of a responsible Opposition but was only interested in "destabilising" the government.

EC promises on Bihar

The Election Commission on Thursday said it would take adequate steps to ensure free and fair polling in the remaining two phases of Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. The EC gave this assurance to the general secretaries of JD(U) and Samata Party-Lallan Singh and Jaya Jaitly-when they met the CEC MS Gill and the two other commissioners in the wake of Patna high court's observation.

Sugar deal national betrayal: Sonia

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Vajpayee government for committing "an act of betrayal" by importing sugar from Pakistan during the Kargil war and said she had documentary evidence to prove this. Challenging the Prime Minister's statement that government agencies did not import a grain of sugar from Pakistan after February 25, Gandhi said, "There are documentary evidences to show that the imports continued till June."

GNLF decison on Sunday

Gorkha National Liberation Front chief Subhash Gheising on Thursday said that his party would decide its stand of supporting any particular political party in Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, at its next meeting at Ghum on Sunday.