Guwahati, Jan 29 : The ruling Congress will adopt a two-pronged strategy of appeasement and aggression to prevent the Assam United Democratic Front’s onslaught on its minority vote bank.

The minority cell of the Assam PCC drew up the strategy after it succeeded in blocking the move by a section of Congress leaders to strike a pre-poll alliance with the AUDF.

Under pressure from the cell, the minority development department of the state government is working on a cabinet memorandum to set up minority development boards in all the district headquarters of the state.

The department sources said the memorandum would be ready for presentation at a cabinet meeting by February.

The objective to take the boards to the districts was to enable it to prepare district-wise sub plans for overall development of the community.

“The district boards will immensely help the community, as it will be more accessible and decentralised. 

The board will be able to take up schemes exclusively for the district. We are also asking the government to allocate more funds for the board,” the chairman of the minority cell of the Congress, Misbahul Islam Laskar, said. 

The cell has also been insisting that the government should issue some kind of identity proof to the migrant labourers of the community to protect them from being harassed as “foreigners” in their place of work.

While wooing the community through development measures, the Congress would increase its tirade against the AUDF and other minority organisations, which have been crying hoarse against the Congress.

“A campaign blueprint has already been prepared to take on the AUDF while efforts were on to get more and more front leaders to switch over to the Congress,” Laskar said. 

“After a meeting of the chairmen of all the minority cells of all the PCC units in New Delhi in the first week of February, the Pradesh Congress minority cell will launch its campaign in full swing,” Laskar added. 

Earlier, the minority cell had frenetically lobbied in New Delhi to prevent the party high command from entering into any poll alliance with the front even as a section of the Congress members of Parliament and AICC in-charge of Assam V. Moily was in favour of the alliance.