After poll debacle, voices of dissent rattle Congress

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, May 23: Voices of dissent are growing within the State Congress unit after the party's debacle in the recently-concluded assembly elections.

As leaders blamed former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and APCC State president Anjan Dutta for the party's defeat, there is a growing clamour within the party for a change in State leadership.

Some have also criticized the party's poor campaign strategy and at the same time accused Gogoi and Dutta of not giving importance to other senior leaders and grassroot workers.

Senior Congress leader and Speaker Prab Kumar Gogoi, who was re-elected from Sivasagar constituency, said the indigenous people of Assam united against the Congress and AIUDF in the elections.

"The indigenous people have been fretting. They were apprehensive of losing their identity. Moreover, there was an anti-incumbancy factor after fifteen years of Congress rule. The indigenous people united and voted for the BJP-AGP alliance," he said.

The Speaker said he had taken an initiative to define the term 'Assamese', but while the BJP and AGP supported him, the ruling party did not. "I felt hurt. Even the people did not like it," he said. Prab Kumar Gogoi will continue to serve as Speaker till a pro-tem speaker is appointed.

Former minister Prithvi Majhi blamed Tarun Gogoi and Anjan Dutta's "arrogance" for the defeat.

He said senior leaders of the party were not taken into confidence during the campaigning.

"The APCC president was also dictatorial on some fronts. He selected some candidates on his own, without consulting anyone. He should owe moral responsibility for the poor performance and quit," Majhi, who himself lost from Lahowal constituency, said.

APCC president Anjan Dutta, who had recently recovered from a brief illness, has not made public appearance after the election results.