NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
G Vinayak in Guwahati
An unambiguous signal from the Congress president Sonia Gandhi supporting Tarun Gogoi as the next chief minister of Assam turned the first meeting of the newly-elected Congress Legislature Party in Guwahati on Wednesday morning into a mere formality.
Gogoi was unanimously elected as the new leader of the CLP. The exercise was conducted in the presence of All India Congress Committee observer R K Dhawan and party general secretary in-charge of Assam, Kamal Nath.
Gogoi, who did not contest the assembly elections since he is a sitting MP, will have to get elected to the House within six months of taking oath.
Bhubaneshwar Kalita, a Sonia confidant and the other aspirant for the post, decided to abide by Madam's choice and withdrew from the race to pave the way for Gogoi's coronation as Assam's 16th chief minister since Independence.
Gogoi is expected to take oath in a couple of days. The composition of his cabinet, however, is likely to be determined by the high command.
On Tuesday, Kalita had thrown his hat in the ring.
Kalita, who was the last-minute choice of Sonia to contest the Rangia seat in lower Assam's Kamrup district, wrested the seat for the party after 25 years. His victory and the fact that the Congress made spectacular gains in the lower Assam districts of Kamrup, Nalbari, Barpeta and Dhubri, hitherto known to be strongholds of regional forces, had given Kalita's claim a legitimacy.
In fact, the latent division in the Congress on the upper Assam, lower Assam lines has come to the fore in the past couple of days. The upper Assam region has always been considered a Congress stronghold with the tea garden voters invariably returning Congress candidates.
This time, however, the Congress has not performed that well losing at least half-a-dozen seats in its stronghold. The lower Assam region on the other hand delivered 25 seats.
Gogoi, who led the Congress campaign as Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president hails from Jorhat in upper Assam, while Kalita is a native of Rangiya, 60 km from capital Guwahati, located in the lower Assam region.
EARLIER REPORT: Tarun Gogoi has competition for CM's post
ALSO SEE: AGP-BJP alliance to continue in Assam: Mahanta Congress wins a simple majority in Assam
Read more
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
