Moily: Unaffected

Guwahati, June 27: AICC leader Veerappa Moily’s two-day visit, which started on Wednesday to assess the health of the party and its government, has added to the growing disenchantment over the functioning of the Tarun Gogoi-led government.

Sources said the Congress leaders had hoped that Moily would give them a patient hearing and take up their grievances with the chief minister but they were not even allowed to speak at the extended PCC executive meeting yesterday. A district leader did not help matters when he pointed out the growing neglect of grassroots leaders by ministers in the Gogoi cabinet.

A section of PCC office-bearers said they wanted Moily to speak for them but found him praising the government for its performance, instead of discussing its failures.

Moily, who took charge last year, had attended the party’s manifesto, co-ordination and extended executive committee meetings over two days, which was also attended by senior leaders.

“We were expecting Moilyji to hear us out but there was an attempt by certain sections to sweep the rot under the carpet. We wanted to alert him about the increasing gap between the party and the government. Most ministers felt they were beyond the reach of anyone. The arrest of minister Ripun Bora on charges of corruption have left party workers ruffled as they are the ones who will face the electorate. They want the party organisation to do the hard work but are not ready to share its problems,” one of them rued, his ire directed at the ministers.

Before leaving for Delhi this morning, Moily told reporters that ministers have been asked to submit regular statements of their assets to the chief minister. They have also been asked to visit district Congress offices and the PCC headquarters to reduce the gap between the party and the government and to try and check corruption within the party.

But this failed to assuage party leaders who pointed out similar directives once issued by Moily when he took charge of Assam but there were hardly any minister who complied. The AICC leader has asked for proper co-ordination between panchayats and the district Congress committees.

He had also emphasised on the involvement of party workers in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes, with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls. The grassroots were also asked to publicise the good work done by the Congress-led governments at the Centre and Dispur.

According to him, around 22 lakh small and marginal farmers would benefit from the UPA loan waiver scheme in the state.