Guwahati, Jul 28 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the border dispute between Assam and Mizoram, which has claimed the lives of seven persons.

In a letter to Shah, Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora claimed that the border dispute between the two Northeastern states has reached a volatile stage.

He pointed out that six Assam police personnel have lost their lives and more than 50 others were injured in the violence.

"We apprehend further mob violence due to the tense situation prevailing in the two states. If this is not immediately dealt with a positive political response to the matter, the situation in both the states may go from bad to worse, adversely impacting the other Northeastern states," he said.

The Congress leader urged Shah to urgently call a meeting of the chief ministers of the two states and all the political parties of the Northeast in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that a permanent solution can be arrived at.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) also demanded the prime minister's intervention in settling the dispute.

The opposition party also held Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma responsible for the situation at Lailapur in Cachar district.

Addressing a press conference, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, "It is surprising that Himanta Biswa Sarma has not asked for the prime minister's intervention. The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, has failed to resolve the dispute."

The incident at Lailapur happened within two days of Shah chairing a meeting of Northeast chief ministers to ostensibly resolve inter-state border issues, he added.

"We demand the immediate intervention of PM Modi in resolving the inter-state border disputes," he said.

Alleging lack of empathy of central leaders towards Assam, he further said, "Whenever any incident happens anywhere in the country, the prime minister and the home minister tweet about it. But they have not written anything on the Lailapur incident."

Gogoi also demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam in UGC's 'Ishan Uday' Special Scholarship Scheme in Assam.

He claimed that nearly 80 per cent of beneficiaries of the scheme in the state are fake.

"Out of 10,000 scholarships meant annually for the Northeast region, Assam got 5,817 scholarships in 2019-20. We suspect that 70-80 per cent of the beneficiaries are fake."

The ‘Ishan Uday' Special Scholarship Scheme was introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the region from academic session 2014-15 for encouraging higher education among students of economically weaker sections.

"This is a scam of several crores of rupees. We demand a CBI probe to find the root of it," Gogoi said.

Scholarship amount worth Rs 188 crore for 293 students for the year 2019-20 is suspected be have been siphoned off, according to police.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)