Guwahati, Nov. 16: The battle for minority votes in the post-IMDT scenario has come a full circle in Assam with the Congress finalising a two-pronged policy of aggression and appeasement to counter organisations that have been crying hoarse about ?betrayal? by the ruling party.

Seeing the United Democratic Front (UDF) and some other minority organisations as major threats to its traditional vote base, the party intends to hold rallies to counter the anti-Congress propaganda and intensify welfare measures in the minority-dominated pockets to woo the voters.

The Congress? minority cell has already drawn up a calendar of public meetings to counter the ?malicious propaganda? by the UDF and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.

Minority organisations have been up in arms against the Tarun Gogoi government ever since the Supreme Court struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act in July.

Over a dozen of these organisations, led by the Jamiat, recently floated the UDF as an alternative to the Congress, which they accused of not putting up a strong case in the apex court in favour of retaining the IM(DT) Act.

Imran Shah, convener of the ad hoc minority cell of the state Congress, said party president Sonia Gandhi would address a minority convention in Guwahati in December, while defence minister Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders would attend a similar rally at Goroibari in the same month. ?We are going to Delhi on November 21 to finalise the dates with madam (Sonia), Pranab Mukherjee and other senior leaders,? he said.

There will be a series of district level meetings as well to ?expose the true face? of the UDF. ?We are not afraid of the UDF, but it has been spreading falsehood and we need to counter them,? Shah said.

He lambasted Jamiat for propping up the UDF. ?According to the Jamiat?s constitution, it cannot get involved in politics but the present leadership has politicised the institution,? he added.

On the other hand, as part of the intensified charm offensive, the Assam Minority Development Board has drawn up three schemes ? related to drinking water supply, irrigation and farming ? amounting to Rs 18 crore in addition to the loans, sewing machines, carts and rickshaws it is already providing the unemployed.

Shah, who is also a senior member of the board, said a scheme for supplying drinking water in char areas has been submitted to the ministry for the Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER) while two other schemes ? for irrigation and farming ? are being processed by the state planning department.

The board recently distributed 150 sewing machines, 100 carts and an equal number of rickshaws as part of its schemes to generate self-employment avenues for uneducated youth of the community. The board also donated Rs 1,600 each to those who received sewing machines, Shah said.

The board recently started disbursing loans to educated unemployed people at a low rate of interest.