New Delhi/Guwahati, March 22: Dissension in the Assam Congress over distribution of poll tickets has intensified with a group of leaders threatening to go on an indefinite hungerstrike in front of the party headquarters in New Delhi from tomorrow if sitting Dhubri MP Abdul Hamid is renominated.
The 15-member group, led by minister Wajid Ali Choudhury, includes five legislators from Dhubri — Sadiq Mazumdar, Nazibul Umar, Sheikh Shah Alam, Aftabuddin Mullah and Hosanara Islam. Several of Tarun Gogoi’s loyalists have been denied tickets, allegedly because of the failure of the chief minister’s aides to present their case before the high command.
Party veterans blamed one of Gogoi’s trusted lieutenants, minister of state for planning and development Himanta Biswa Sarma, for the state of affairs.
The tug-of-war between PCC chief Paban Singh Ghatowar and Gogoi resulted in the party fielding candidates for both Rajya Sabha seats despite being short of the numbers required within the Assembly to see the duo through to Parliament.
Former chief minister and Gogoi loyalist Anowara Taimur was nominated as the second candidate. The first choice was Ghatowar’s man, Silvius Condpan. The election is slated for March 26.
Party sources said PCC general secretary Kirip Chaliha and senior party leader Biren Singh Ingti, who was denied a ticket for the Karbi Anglong seat, recently accused Sarma of “misleading” the chief minister.
In New Delhi, a member of the delegation from Assam said he and his compatriots met AICC leaders Oscar Fernandez and Ahmed Patel today and explained to him why Hamid should not be renominated.
“They heard us out, but were non-committal. We will probably go on an indefinite hungerstrike in front of the Congress office from tomorrow,” he said.
The Dhubri delegates said there was no logic in “reconsidering” a decision that had been taken by the PCC election panel.
A group of Congress leaders from Lakhimpur, led by legislator Pradan Barua, recently threatened to resign and field an Independent candidate if Ranee Narah was fielded in their constituency.
The Congress will be in trouble if the groups from Dhubri and Lakhimpur do not turn up to vote in the Rajya Sabha election. The two groups comprise nine MLAs and a minister.
