GUWAHATI, July 7 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today warned firm steps against those Congressmen resorting to bandhs in some parts of the State in protest against dropping of some of the Ministers. ? Bandh culture is against the political culture of the Congress. The Congressmen resorting to bandhs in some parts of the State are opposing the Congress High Command. From tomorrow I will be dealing with them very firmly,? he said. He was referring to the bandh called by the Congressmen of Sonari in protest against the decision to drop Sarat Barkataki from the Council of Ministers of the State.
He also claimed that dissident activities at Sonari started only after the arrival of Barkataki there. ?We have not humiliated any body. We will be utilising every body in different capacities in the party and in other areas too,? he said, emphasising that the party was more important. Calling for loyalty from his party men, Gogoi said that he did not feel humiliated when he was removed from the post of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee presidentship despite his rejuvenating the party through hard work of four years.
Referring to the revolt of the Sonari Congressmen, he said that the bandh called at Sonari had no impact in the rural areas of Sonari. ? You just keep on watching for a week. There will be no dissidence. After two to three days the dissident activities will fizzle out,? Gogoi said. He also said that the downsizing should be treated as a reshuffle of the ministry. ? I will reshuffle the ministry by the end of this year or in the first part of the next year. This will be done for the purpose of fighting the Assembly elections,? he said.
When pointed out to the resentment expressed by Dr Ardhendu Dey that the new ministry had not included anyone from the Bengalee speaking section of the Brahmaputra valley people, Gogoi shot back whether Gautam Roy who had been inducted into the ministry was a Benagalee or not, ?I do not distinguish between the Brahmaputra valley and the Barak valley,? he said. Meanwhile, more than 3,000 protestors blocked the railway track at Hojai in Nagaon district this morning in protest against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi?s action of dropping Dr Ardhendu Kumar Dey from the Ministry.
Police sources said that the protestors delayed the Jorhat bound Jana Satabdi express for about half an hour at the Hojai Railway station from 8.30 am. Police later cleared the tracks and arrested the protestors. It may be mentioned here that Dr Dey was one of the 16 Ministers dropped by the Chief Minister in the process of downsizing the Ministry in accordance with the amendment of the Anti-Defection law.