Guwahati: The much-awaited reshuffle of Assam ministry led by chief minister Tarun Gogoi is being carried out by the middle of January next, as announced by Gogoi himself here on Tuesday.
Gogoi told media here that he would carry out the ministry rejig by Magh Bihu, the annual Assamese harvest festival that is celebrated on January 13-14.
Significantly, it is for the first time Gogoi spoke out a definite timeframe for reshuffle of his ministry, the demand for which was raised vociferously last summer by the group of dissident Congress MLAs led by Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma, an MLA and former health and education minister.
Gogoi’s announcement came close on the heels of the AICC appointing senior MLA, Anjan Dutta who had backed Gogoi during the recent rebellion by a section of party MLAs, as the president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dutta is taking charge on December 18 next replacing Bhubaneswar Kalita who had kept a safe distance when dissension in the Congress legislature party came to the fore.
Reshuffle of the ministry by removing those who have remained minister without a break since 2001 when Congress came to power under Gogoi’s leadership, was one of the key demands of the dissident group of MLAs that raised banner of revolt against Gogoi and demanded his removal on the ground of ‘inefficiency’.
Gogoi had already discussed about the composition of his new ministry with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and consulted AICC in-charge of Assam affairs C P Joshi last week.
Gogoi, however, stated that he did not submit to the party high command any list of probables to be included in his ministry after the reshuffle though claimed that he had got approval from the party high command for the reshuffle which has been delayed a bit because of the winter session of Assam Assembly.
Given that the dissident group of MLAs is waiting on the wings to create fresh trouble for him at the slightest opportunity, Gogoi is expected to use the reshuffle to weaken the dissident group which is already shaky after their leader Himanta Bishwa Sarma apparently being no longer in the good book of the party high command.