 "Mallikarjun Kharge")
To quell factionalism within the Assam unit of the Congress, the party might change the chief minister. Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who visited the state to assess the situation, submitted a report to the party high command on Monday. A majority of legislators in the state had rebelled against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
During his two-day visit, Kharge met close to a hundred Congress leaders, including MLAs and MPs. Earlier, of the 70 MLAs, 56 had written to Sonia Gandhi, seeking a change in the leadership. Health and Education Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma is leading the rebellion.
The Congress has enough breathing time to effect a change, as Assam goes to polls only in 2016. The party doesn’t have that luxury in Maharashtra or Haryana, as these state will go to polls this year-end.
Although Sarma is leading the rebellion, the Congress is not keen on appointing him as chief minister.
“This would send out a wrong message that dissenters and rebels are rewarded. Seniors in the party would be uncomfortable, as he is a young leader of only 44 years old,” said a Congress leader. Besides, Sarma is a controversial figure, with his name being associated in corruption and extortion cases.
Some other names that are said to be in the reckoning are that of APCC chief and Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneshwar Kalita and Industry and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi.
