Guwahati, May 25: The Assam government and the PCC have both scrapped plans to submit representations to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi during her whirlwind visit to the city tomorrow to attend the first anniversary of the Tarun Gogoi government’s third straight term at Dispur.
“The programme is very tight. It will last just about an hour,” Nilamoni Sen Deka, government spokesperson, cabinet minister and Assam PCC general secretary, told The Telegraph, while giving reasons for shelving plans to submit any memorandum for the time being. Assam PCC general secretary Haren Das echoed Deka.
Deka said they were expecting more than 25,000 people at Sarusajai Stadium, where the function will be held. The Paresh Barua faction of Ulfa has called a 12-hour bandh tomorrow. The outfit is protesting against “Indian colonial occupation of Assam, the government’s bid to convert Assam into a thriving ground of illegal migrants from Bangladesh, setting up of mega hydro-power projects in collusion with big industry houses to exploit the state’s water resources and the move to set up National Counter Terrorism Centre”.
Congress insiders said the party had drafted a memorandum seeking to draw Sonia’s attention to problems such as doubtful voters, National Register of Citizens, erosion, floods and early solution to the Ulfa issue so that she could use her office to help resolve the same. The tight schedule apart, the party does not want to be seen as using the government function to highlight its views, they added.
The Congress members of Bodoland Territorial Council have also put in cold storage a three-page memorandum on the party’s plight in the area.
The minorities and the non-Bodos living in the BTC area were hoping that Sonia’s 15-minute speech would have something reassuring for them. Adil Shah, chairperson of Minorities Commission, hoped the party president would speak on issues such as D-voters, NRC and pattas to the landless in the char areas to woo back party those who have left the party.
Jitu Kissan, an elected member of the BTC, said they wanted to draw Sonia’s attention to the alleged inequality in the BTC. “We want equal rights in the council, similar to what the BPF legislators enjoy in the coalition government at Dispur. At least three of us should be made executive members in the 40-member council. We are feeling politically and socially insecure and would like the party bosses at the Centre and in Dispur to do something,” he said.
The Congress, which had won an impressive 78 seats in the 126-member Assembly in the 2011 election, runs a coalition with the BPF, which has 12 members.
One BPF member is part of Gogoi’s 19-member council of ministers. Praising Gogoi’s success in electoral politics, Deka said the chief minister was a national leader with a regional outlook.
A thick security blanket has been thrown in and around the city and the stadium to ensure a smooth visit for Sonia. Suspected Ulfa cadres had triggered a blast at Dighodonga C-block under Barbari police station in Baksa district last night. However, no one was injured in the blast which took place near the house of pro-talks Ulfa leader Mithinga Daimary, who had said that Paresh Barua was no longer strong enough to trigger a blast.
Baksa superintendent of police Rana Bhuyan said the bomb was powerful and would have injured many had it exploded during the day. No one has been arrested so far. Soon after the blast, security was tightened at Barama, Barbari, Mushalpur and Djghaldonga in Baksa. Another bomb exploded at Filobari near Doomdoma in Tinsukia district tonight, killing one person.
