December 22, 2025 07:24 AM IST

First published on: Dec 22, 2025 at 06:10 AM IST

The president of the Asom Gana Parishad, Prafulla Mahanta, is almost certain to be elected leader of the party in the state assembly to head the government in Assam. The party, which commands an absolute majority in the 126-member assembly, has secured 64 seats. The AGP also won six of the 12 Lok Sabha seats declared so far.

Winnie Mandela detained

The police dragged Winnie Mandela, wife of the jailed African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, from her home in Soweto and drove her to a hotel outside Johannesburg. The police said her exile to the remote town of Brandfort was cancelled, but she was barred from Johannesburg.

VP Singh on tax raids

The Finance Minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, offered to consider changes in tax laws to remove difficulties in their implementation but was against any let-up in recent tax raids on industrialists and businessmen. Singh denied that only industrialists and businessmen who were unfriendly to the government were being proceeded against.

Sri Lanka massacre

Over 100 Tamils were feared killed in firing by Sri Lankan security forces from helicopters in several parts of northern Jaffna, according to the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front. It said the casualty figure was a “conservative estimate” as the security forces fired at the civilians from 15 helicopters and dropped bombs. The Jaffna hospital was overcrowded with many injured people admitted, it said.