Cong to project Tarun Gogoi as CM

GUWAHATI, March 24: The State unit of the Congress has decided to project its president and the sitting Lok Sabha MP, Tarun Gogoi as the Chief Ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Assembly election in the State. Replying to a query from the newsmen during a press conference this morning, the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), Silvius Condpan said the Assam Pradesh Congress president, Gogoi would be the next Chief Minister if the party was voted to power in the forthcoming Assembly election. Earlier, addressing the press meet, the APCC president disclosed that the Congress was most likely to contest all the 126 legislative assembly constituencies on its own while ruling out forging electoral alliance with any parties. Gogoi said, "It is too late to go for poll alliance as the election is fast approaching." When drawn to reports that Congress might go for a poll alliance with CPI and Bodo political group, People's Democratic Front (PDF), Gogoi said both the parties were yet to have any discussion with Congress in this regard. He also pointed out that the CPI was still in the alliance with the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Gogoi further informed that State Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind had set certain conditions for its support to Congress party during the election. He informed that the Jamiat demanded 35 tickets to representatives of minority communities to fight election in the State. Gogoi said most of the conditions of Jamiat including opposition to repeal of IMDT Act, proper representation to ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities were acceptable to Congress party. He, however, denied that Jamiat asked Congress not to give party nominations to certain minority leaders in the next Assembly election. Meanwhile, the Congress which is going to release its election manifesto on March 27 next, decided to approach the voters of the State during electioneering with promise to provide a responsible, transparent government focused on development works. Launching an attack on the regional AGP for keeping mum over sensational "Tehelka expose" which has put the credibility of the BJP-led government at the Centre at stake, the APCC chief said the people of Assam had realised that AGP and BJP were two sides of the same coin. He said both the parties do not have any qualms for sacrificing the interests of the country for monetary consideration. He termed both the parties "opportunistic, corrupt, selfish and devoid of any commitment." He said the "LoC scam tainted" Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, had no guts to criticise the BJP over the Tehelka expose as he would require continuous protection from the BJP-led government in the wake of him being thrown out of power in the State in the aftermath of the next election.