Guwahati, Aug. 31: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today justified the suspension of four Congress MLAs and warned that indiscipline in the party would not be tolerated.
Assam PCC yesterday suspended four of its legislators - Jayanta Malla Baruah, Pijush Hazarika, Pradan Baruah and Pallab Lochan Das - on charges of supporting Himanta Biswa Sarma (who joined the BJP last week) and making anti-party statements before the media.
All four MLAs went to the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here on Friday to welcome dissident leader Sarma (on his arrival from Delhi after formally joining the BJP) and later allegedly made anti-Congress statements.
Five other MLAs - Binanda Saikia, Abu Taher Bepari, Bolin Chetia, Kripanath Mallah and Rajen Borthakur -were issued showcause notices on similar charges.
Since the five had gone only to meet Sarma and did not make any alleged anti-party comment, they were only showcaused. All of them have been asked to reply within a fortnight.
"Suspension and showcause notices have been issued since the MLAs broke the party discipline. Such development is not personal vendetta against anyone. Indiscipline will not be tolerated. If the accused MLAs want to quit they can. Their departure will not impact the Congress. The exit of Himanta Biswa Sarma will also have no impact. We are discussing all developments with the high command," Gogoi told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in the city.
Gogoi said he does not have much to say about MLAs, including Sarma, who will leave or in case of Sarma have left the Congress only to join a "communal" party like the BJP.
Around 400 supporters of Jonai MLA Pradan Barua today resigned from the Congress and vowed to join the party which Barua would join. They even renamed Rajiv Bhawan in Silapathar as MLA Constituency Development Office.
Several district and state-level office bearers of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress have resigned after Sarma joined the BJP.
Talking to reporters here, Assam Youth Congress president Hiranya Bhuyan said they have expelled nine state and district-level leaders of the organisations for "anti-organisation activities" and "having good relationship with the BJP."
Bhuyan said the Youth Congress of Jalukbari constituency is intact.
He alleged that Youth Congress members in Jalukbari were being hounded to leave the organisation. He, however, could not say who actually were harassing these members.
NSUI Assam unit president Monoj Hazarika said they have suspended their state vice-president Himangshu Sekhar Baishya for his alleged anti-organisation activity.
Roha MLA Pijush Hazarika has described his suspension as "relief from a suffocating atmosphere".
"I am very happy. I will request the party to expel me," he told a news channel.
Referring to Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi, Hazarika said he (Gaurav) was paratrooped into the Congress alienating them (Hazarika and some other MLAs) gradually.
The chief minister and Assam PCC chief Anjan Dutta, on the other hand, will leave for New Delhi tomorrow to discuss certain important party issues with vice-president Rahul Gandhi, especially in the backdrop of Sarma joining the BJP.
The duo are likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi too.
