AICC keeps options open; Fierce tussle over APCC chief's post

NEW DELHI, April 26: A fierce tussle over leadership in the Assam Congress Party is likely to break out between the camps of State president, Tarun Gogoi and Bhubaneswar Kalita following a decision of the AICC high command not to back any State leader as a Chief Ministerial candidate. Even as the Assam Congress leadership continue to grope in the dark, clueless how to handle the growing dissident activities, the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to hit the campaign trial in the State with a meeting in Tezpur on May 30. She is slated to address a few more meetings in Sonitpur and Dhemaji districts on her day-long trip to the State. However, the entry of Bhubaneswar Kalita, AICC secretary into the electoral fray has upset the equation in the Congress party, with a powerful section within the party changing tracks and deciding to back Kalita for the top post. Breaking their silence for the first time, a senior party leader said they were dismayed at the events leading to the current unrest in the party in the State. "The State leadership in Assam is weak and we have taken note of it. We are closely watching the developments in the State", the leader said. Talking to newsmen, the leader said they have an open mind about the leadership issue, and would prefer to wait and see which of the two leaders managers to win support from partymen instead of letting Delhi make the choice. Congressman admitted the high command was not too happy with the turn of events in the State, though they expected some unrest in the party, in the wake of the decision to drop several influential sitting MLAs. The APCC president's position became precarious after the central election committee and the general secretary incharge for the Northeast, Kamal Nath, ordered several changes in the candidates' list, dropping candidates who were loyal to Gogoi's camp. At the eleventh hour of the selection process even known Tarun Gogoi loyalists including Madhab Rajbongshi, Abdul Hamid, Golam Osmani turned against him, disenchanted with the party chief's failure to back their candidates. Interestingly, it was none other then Ranbangshi who had first written a letter to AICC president, Sonia Gandhi, backing his mentor's bete noir Bhubaneswar Kalita's candidature for the Rangiya seat. Taking a cue, rest of the disgruntled MPs including Ranee Narah and Nepal Das jointly dashed off a similar petition, apparently to get even with Gogoi. The APCC president's position has become further vulnerable because he does not have support from all power centres within his party though he has the support of the powerful tea lobby headed by Paban Singh Ghatowar, senior leaders Santosh Mohan Dev and Bijoy Krishna Handique behind him. But his position might become shaky, as he cannot count on the support of leaders like Anwara Taimur and Hemo Prova Saikia, who still enjoys considerable clout in the AICC. On the other hand, Bhubaneswar Kalita has the advantage of not carrying any burden of the selection blunders. By and large, he has so far played it safe and though he may be a stranger to most in Assam, he enjoys confidence of the party high command. And, it was in full display when Sonia Gandhi over ruled Basanti Sarma's candidature at the last minute, despite being backed by Gogoi's camp to the hilt. The senior Congress leader, however, maintained that dropping of candidates selected by Gogoi was unintentional as they were solely guided by the win ability factor in mind. But, he added that they were worried about couple of leaders who had the potential to create problems for the party. The leader identified Mukut Sarma and Rashidul Haque and Shahidul Islam among the few candidates who were posing problems for the party. Referring to Rashidul Haque's case, he said the intervention by Asad Madani sealed his fate. "When the Jamiat-Ulema-E-Hind chief threatened that if we nominate him, he would severe ties with the Congress party forever, we were forced to sit up and take notice", he disclosed. The leader, referring to Mani Kumar Subba's role, said they had almost rejected his brother's candidature for the Naoboicha LAC, but the self-styled lottery king hinted that any candidate fielded without consent would lose, leaving no one in doubt that he would defeat the Congress candidate. "When we were faced with the prospect of losing the seat, we decided to nominate his brother", admitted the Congress leader. Subba had sought only three nominations including that of his brother and has not even backed the sitting MLAs in his constituency, the leader said, adding that stories doing the round that he was responsible for several nominations may have been deliberately planted by the MP to show off his clout.