Guwahati: Assam PCC vice-president and former minister Pradyut Bordoloi on Thursday said Wednesday's clash among members of Youth Congress at Rajiv Bhawan during the counting of votes was a "very shameful incident" for the party.
The clash took place at the party headquarters here when the counting for state president and general secretary post was on.
Kamrul Islam Choudhury was elected president while Angkita Dutta and Ratul Patowary finished second to be vice-presidents.
Abhijit Bora won the general secretary's post amid allegations that most of the candidates were backed by senior leaders, prominent among them being Rakibul Hussain, Debabrata Saikia, Bordoloi himself and Wajed Ali Choudhury.
"It was a shameful incident and unexpected. I have been a member of the Congress since my student days. I was also member of the NSUI and Youth Congress. But earlier such incidents never took place," Bordoloi said.
This is not the first time Youth Congress elections have left the party embarrassed and divided. The intra-party feud between former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his once closest aide Himanta Biswa Sarma, now a senior BJP minister, was also fuelled by Youth Congress polls which saw the election of Pijush Hazarika, backed by Sarma, as the president. Hazarika, too, is a BJP minister now. "There was too much mud-slinging in public. Senior leaders were called names on TV. We went downhill from there. We have lost elections, we have lost power and we lost several promising leaders. Youth Congress elections have been a bane for us since Hazarika's election. The high command needs to look into it. Election is okay but once senior people get involved things go haywire," a party general secretary said.
Bordoloi said, "Actually youth from across the state are involved with the Congress and normally some of them may become aggressive if they fail in party elections. It also happens among senior leaders. These incidents also convey that these people are very emotionally connected with the party."
The senior leader that the party has to take preventive measures. "I am sure we can stop such fracas with disciplinary action. PCC president Ripun Bora has already said a probe will conducted to take action against the guilty. We have to teach discipline to our junior members. It is our duty and will work towards it," Bordoloi said.
On senior leaders backing candidates, he said, "Some sources spread rumours. Even some people said I had backed one of the candidates. It is totally false. No one can claim that I made any phone call or distributed money in support of any candidate."