Guwahati, Jan. 22: Four former general secretaries of the Asam Sahitya Sabha and a few writers today came out in support of the proposal, floated by some former presidents of the literary body, to turn the Sabha's centenary session into one of its biennial sessions under a new executive body.

The reception committee of the centenary celebrations, however, today appealed to the public to lend their full cooperation in making the centenary session in Sivasagar district from February 8 to 12 a success. The panel's members today met state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and water resources minister Keshab Mahanta seeking their cooperation and they will meet chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal tomorrow.

The literature-loving people of the state had dreamt that the state's biggest literary body would observe its centenary in a grand way in Sivasagar, where its first session was first held in 1917. But local media continues to be abuzz with reports of controversies about the Sabha's "internal politics" and "autocratic manner of functioning" instead of reports about its achievements, plans or vision.

"We had hoped that the centenary session would be a grand one which would be inaugurated by the President of the country, where a postal stamp would be released to mark the occasion, valuable books would be published and which will carry the Sabha's name to every nook and corner of the world. But nothing has happened. Instead, it has plummeted from its glory owing to the controversies. Something should be done to restore the Sabha's lost glory," Basanta Kumar Goswami, a former general secretary of the Sabha, told the media here today.

"The Sivasagar session should be postponed till December and organised in a grand manner. It should be turned into a biennial session so that a new president can take charge," Goswami said.

The former general secretaries opined that the new president should be elected by a committee headed by former presidents.

The Sabha had hoped that by making vice-president Prahlad Chandra Tasa the president for the centenary session, all controversies would subside. But it has raised questions about politics creeping into the Sabha.

The former general secretaries today questioned Tasa's eligibility on the ground that he joined the BJP in July 2015 to contest the Assembly elections and continues to be a member of the party.

Tasa, who did not get a ticket to contest elections, had been on leave for months from the Sabha but made a comeback when Dhruba Jyoti Borah resigned as president.

Today's news conference was attended by writers Gobinda Prasad Sharma and Dayananda Pathak.

Samsul Barik and Gobinda Handique, who were earlier with the reception committee but released later, were also present.