Guwahati: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has finally stepped in to quell dissidence within ruling Congress in Assam against chief minister Tarun Gogoi by deciding to send Motilal Vora as its observer to talk to dissident to know their grievances even as Tarun Gogoi called dissident group on Friday afternoon to hint that he was ready to abide by what the dissidents demand.
Consequently, the dissident MLAs numbering over 40 and headed by health and education minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma on Friday decided to postpone their appointment with Governor J B Patnaik to seek change of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership in Assam.
The dissidents have raised demand for change in the leadership of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the wake of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s rejection of resignation offered by the chief minister Tarun Gogoi owning moral responsibility for debacle in polls in Assam.
Earlier on Friday, Dr Sharma while setting 5-00 P.M. deadline to Gogoi to contact them over phone from New Delhi said that the ball was in Tarun Gogoi’s court to save the party in Assam. He said, “Congress party has given so much to Gogoi who had been MP for several times since 1971 before becoming chief minister in 2001.
His son Gourav Gogoi has been made MP out of turn. It is now time for Gogoi to give it back. He has to act to save the party in Assam at this juncture.”“Gogoi can call up any of the four senior party leaders and MLAs – Sarat Borkotoky, Rameswar Dhanwar, A Tirky, and Dr Bhumidhar – to promise to listen to us (dissidents) otherwise he will face the consequence,” Dr Sharma said earlier in the day. Gogoi later called Sarat Borkotoky to send out his message to dissidents’ camp.
On AICC’s decision to send Vora to talk to dissident MLAs, Dr Sharma said it would give every dissident MLA a chance to explain that the Congress performed miserably in Lok Sabha polls only because the state government led by chief minister Tarun Gogoi failed to take some corrective measures as demanded by the dissidents two years back.
He said the dissidents had submitted their demands to Gogoi as well as to the Congress high command two years back saying that it these demands were not fulfilled to strengthen the party base in Assam, the Congress would not win more than four seats in Lok Sabha polls in Assam. “That is what has exactly happened and our demands were not heeded to’’ Dr Sharma said.
