Guwahati: In another jolt to the Congress rebel camp in Assam led by former minister Himanta Bishwa Sarma, All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed senior Congress leader, a former minister and
a sitting MLA, Anjan Dutta as the president of Assam Pradesh Congress Com-mittee (APCC) replacing Bhubaneswar Kalita.
Appointment of Dutta who was also backed by chief minister Tarun Gogoi came as a blow to the anti-Gogoi rebel camp as the AICC move made short work of rebel camp leader Himanta Biswa Sarma’s bid for the APCC top post.
Gogoi had earlier mustered all his strength and experience to foil a desperate attempt by rebel MLAs led by Sarma to oust him from the post of chief minister after results of Lok Sabha election were declared. Anjan Dutta along with some other MLAs from the Congress bastion in eastern Assam played a constructive role in favour of Gogoi during the time when the rebel Congress MLAs raised their banner of revolt against Tarun Gogoi.
Party sources said, the AICC chose to ignore attempt of Sarma, a media baron, to get the APCC chief
post as the party leadership especially vive-president Rahul Gandhi was not happy with him as Sarma had allegedly worked against the party’s interest during the last Lok Sabha polls in Assam in an apparent bid to paint Tarun Gogoi’s leadership in poor light. The AICC decision to appoint the new APCC preside just two days before the beginning of the winter session of Assam Assembly, is expected to have impact on the session with rebel camp led by Sarma might try to create trouble for the government in the House over numerous issues.
Gogoi cam can take heart that the spirit of the rebel camp is not as enthusiastic as earlier given that their leader Sarma was recently quizzed by the CBI for eight hours in Kolkata in connection with Saradha chit fund scam. The Saradha chief Sudipta Sen in his letter to the CBI had named Sarma as one of the beneficiaries of Saradha group’s operation in Assam, which was denied by Sarma before the media.
Anjan Dutta, a media baron like Biswa Sarma, was also recently quizzed by the CBI in the Saradha scam in respect business tran-saction between his media group Dainik Batori with Saradha group which used to print it now closed down Bengali Daily from Dutta’s printing press in Guwahati.
No evidence was found
against Dutta in the case.Dutta now has to shoulder a herculean responsibility to lead the party dogged by rebellion and low morale of workers because of upsurge of the BJP in Assam, to the crucial Assembly election in 2016