GUWAHATI, June 29 – The new Council of Ministers that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will have in place by July 7 may well be a surprise package, with distinct possibilities of Gogoi inducting a few fresh faces using the opportunity. Sources in the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), disclosed today that the Chief Minister would propose to bring in a few MLAs as Ministers, while dropping a lot many of the current team. Gogoi, the sources said, has drawn up a list of a handful of MLAs who could be sworn.
The sources, which preferred not to be named, said that the names of the MLAs were drawn up after the Chief Minister had separate discussions with the top APCC leaders. The list now has the full approval of the APCC but will have to get the clearance from the AICC, more particularly the party honchos in charge of Assam. Though no names have been revealed, it is believed that the list includes a few belonging to the famed ‘Group of 37’ that had together given many sleepless nights to the Chief Minister in his three years in power. The group had lobbied hard, both in Guwahati and in New Delhi for berths in the Gogoi ministry. They have also complained that the current Council of Ministers was not truly representative of the State. There was also a time when the members of the group openly came out against Gogoi, some even questioning his leadership.
The latest move by Gogoi is sure to give sleepless nights to several Ministers who were hoping to somehow make it to the final list. The Gogoi ministry is to be pruned from 35 to 19. With the possibility of new MLAs making the grade, the field for the existing Ministers has shrunk much more.
Our Staff Correspondent from New Delhi adds : The downsizing of Government is unlikely before the week-end, as Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is awaiting the arrival of AICC president, Sonia Gandhi and in-charge for Assam Digvijay Singh here. Talking to this newspaper on sideline of the CMs conference, he said that he is planning to call on the AICC president either tomorrow or on Thursday. The CEC special invitee in-charge for Assam is also not in the capital and is expected to arrive here on July 1. The CM is likely to finalise the list in consultation with the three-member committee comprising Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and Motilal Vohra besides Singh before he leaves for Guwahati.