Resentment against Tarun Gogoi brewing

Guwahati, March 11: A few months back, the dissident group in the Assam Congress was quite active and vocal against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Just before the Lok Sabha elections, some Congress MLAs have again started dissident activities against the Chief Minister over the issue of selection of candidates for the polls. If such dissident activities go on, it might hamper the electoral prospects of the Congress.

On Tuesday, former minister and present MLA Dinesh Prasad Goala expressed disappointment over the Chief Minister’s conduct. Talking to the press at Dispur, he said, ‘‘The Congress has decided to field Manas Bora from the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency. The losing chance is very high. In Karimganj, the Congress has declared Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, but the MLAs of the area are not happy with his work. The MLAs wanted a change. But this did not happen. The same has happened in Lakhimpur with Ranee Narah. Most of the MLAs in the Lakhimpur area did not want Ranee Narah’s candidature. But the leadership of the party did not pay any heed to the concerns of the MLAs. At the same time, despite heavy anti-incumbency, Barpeta MP Ismail Hussain has yet again been selected as the party’s candidate for the seat. These are the reasons why the Congress in Assam will face a major challenge this time.’’

He added: ‘‘Most of the ministers of the Gogoi cabinet are concerned only with their own constituencies. They give no importance to other Congress MLAs. This matter has been raised with the Chief Minister several times, but he keeps saying he will look after the matter but he has not kept his word. As a result, there is resentment among most of our party MLAs. Before the Lok Sabha elections if the Chief Minister does not hear and solve the resentment of the MLAs concerned, it will have an impact on the prospect of the party.’’

Former MP of Magaldoi Madhab Rajbanshi is also dissatisfied with the Chief Minister’s role in the matter of selecting candidates. He said that he would opt for any other ‘‘secular’’ party in a day or two due to the ‘‘betrayal of the Congress’’.

In a significant development, former President of India Fakruddin Ali Ahmed’s son Dr Pervez Ahmed held a closed-door meeting with AIUDF president Badrudin Ajmal at Dispur. Dr Ahmed had sought Congress ticket from the Barpeta constituency. But he did not get the ticket. Due to disappointment, he held a closed-door with the AIUDF on Tuesday. After the meeting, Dr Ahmed said, ‘‘The Chief Minister had told me several times that he would give me ticket both for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Chief Minister’s son Gaurav Gogoi is a good person, but he is not eligible to be given party ticket from Koliabor.’’

Sources said that Dr Ahmed is interested to contest from the Koliabor Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent. Dr Ahmed held discussion with the AIUDF in this regard.

If such resentment goes on against the Chief Minister, the Congress will face a tough battle in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

(Source)The Sentinel – The Largest Media group of North-East India — focused on news publishing. Combined circulation of the group is over 120,000 newspapers per day, making it the largest newspaper group in the region. The Sentinel is the only English daily in the Northeast India with five editions published simultaneously from Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Shillong, Silchar and Itanagar. For all local, news from Assam, national and international news please visit http://www.sentinelassam.com/