Bhubaneswar Kalita

Guwahati, Dec. 14: The ruling Congress today decided to cobble up a ?UPA-like coalition? for the Assembly elections in Assam, indicating it was not confident about retaining power on its own.

PCC chief Bhubaneswar Kalita revealed that the proposal for a broad-based alliance with like-minded parties having a base in Assam was endorsed during deliberations in New Delhi on December 8. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, who is the AICC general secretary for Assam, the party?s three observers for the state and chief minister Tarun Gogoi participated in that discussion, he said.

Kalita?s announcement is seen as a reflection of the party?s realisation of its diminishing electoral prospects. By all accounts, the Congress is on shaky ground despite consistently asserting that it has fulfilled 85 per cent of the pre-poll promises made in 2001, when it ousted the AGP-led coalition from office.

The party will formally switch to poll mode by holding a daylong conclave of ?grassroots-level leaders? in Guwahati tomorrow to discuss and assess its preparedness for the polls, which might be held before Rongali Bihu in April next year.

The next two programmes on the agenda are an election rally in Tinsukia on December 17 ? Digvijay is expected to attend it ? and a panchayat-level meeting here on December 28. These two meetings will lead to a larger rally at Judges Field on January 8.

The PCC chief said Digvijay would initiate talks with constituents of the UPA for a similar arrangement in Assam. ?We are comfortably placed, but the door is open for the UPA members,? he said.

On whether the Left would agree to a tie-up after having avoided contact with the Congress in Assam for so long, Kalita said the CPI, the CPM and the Congress were national parties and issues like pre-poll or post-poll arrangements would be decided at that level.

Kalita said it would be hypothetical to say whether the party would initiate talks for an alliance with the United Democratic Front (UDF), which has accused the ruling party of betraying the religious and linguistic minorities.

The Gogoi government recently said the UDF was ?not a factor at all?.

The factors that have contributed to the Congress? loss of face in Assam are the Supreme Court?s ruling on the IM(DT) Act, dissension, the ethnic strife in Karbi Anglong, the formation of the UDF, the alienation of the tea community and, more recently, Gauhati High Court?s decision to cancel constable appointments through selection tests in 15 examination centres.