Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has dismissed reports of revolt by 25 Congress MLAs and said that he was not hungry for the chief minister’s post.
“Some leaders have been conspiring against me for a long time. I don’t care about dissidence. This is a drama that will end soon,” the chief minister who has been ruling for 12 consecutive years in the state told reporters.
“I am not hungry for the chief minister’s post. Conspiracy is not new for me,” he said.
Earlier there were reports of a meeting by about 25 MLAs and their supporters at a senior legislator’s residence here on Thursday night demanding change in the leadership of the Congress Legislature Party as the chief minister was allegedly autocratic and vindictive and had sidelined them. Following this there was a move for a signature campaign by Congress MLAs in support of Gogoi.
But Gogoi directed Congress Chief Whip Nilamani Sen Deka to ensure that it was not undertaken and that statements in the media should also not be made. The CLP has terminated the associate membership of independent MLA Zabed Islam for alleged dissident activities.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhubaneswar Kalita, who had a meeting with the chief minister yesterday in the assembly premises, said “These are internal matters of the party. We are sorting out whatever difference is there within the party (CLP). We are expecting a solution shortly.” The 25 MLAs, on the other hand, denied that they were against Gogoi and said that the meeting at a legislator’s house was a part of regular practice.
AGP president and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said that dissidence in the Congress was its internal matter and he would not comment on it. “Gogoi himself has said it is a drama. So you watch it. The government has stopped thinking about the state and its people.”
BJP all India Vice-President and Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakraborty said, “We have noticed that dissidence in the Congress has intensified to such a level that Gogoi is only thinking of retaining power at any cost.” “So desperate is Gogoi that he has extended his hand of friendship to AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal forgetting Assam, its people, the vexed illegal Bangladesh migrants issue and its existence,” Chakraborty said.
“Instead of thinking about the vast majority of the people who voted him and his Congress to power for three terms, Gogoi is only thinking about remaining in power in his own interest crushing the interests of Assam,” the BJP leader alleged.
BJP state president Sorbananda Sonowal said, “In the interest of a stable Assam the people must unite against the Congress and AIUDF to strengthen the state.” (PTI)
