ASSAM is going through a curious experience as ministers are offering their resignations in succession. The reason goes back to the past. Tarun Gogoi has been Chief Minister for 13 years- the longest tenure for a CM in Assam. But his Congress Party is undermined by dissident groups creating trouble for two years. The anti-Gogoi camp is led by health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He has been in the past accused of association with the Ulfa and involvement in the Sharadha scam. But what has given him power is the sad performance of the Congress in the general election in Assam. Gogoi has acknowledged moral responsibility for the defeat. There has been strident demand for his resignation bringing the government to a standstill in the last few days. Gogoi’s offer of resignation has been rejected by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Sarma has also offered to resign. A reshuffle of the Assam government is in sight to accommodate dissidents.
The Congress in Assam faces a larger crisis. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got a firm foothold in the state which is unprecedented, cutting the Congress down to size even in its strongholds. The Congress won only three of the 14 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP seven which is the highest ever for it in the State. There is no alternative to Gogoi in the eyes of the Congress leadership in Delhi. But questions arise about his party’s signal defeat in the parliamentary elections. Gogoi has to push ahead with great speed as the state assembly elections are only two years away.
