NC Hills thorn pricks Cong balloon

- PM rap leaves Assam shaken

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greets the gathering at the inauguration of the chief ministers’ meet in New Delhi on Monday, as home minister P. Chidambaram looks on. (PTI) Guwahati, Aug. 19 : The ruling Congress in Assam was a shaken house today after both the Prime Minister and the Union home minister ticked off the state for not handling the insurgency situation, particularly in the North Cachar Hills district, efficiently. The virtual mend-your-style-of-functioning notice from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P.C. Chidambaram came at a meeting of chief ministers on internal security in New Delhi yesterday. Party insiders said the Centre’s observations could once again give a handle to Tarun Gogoi baiters in the Assam PCC, who have otherwise been lying low for some time in the face of the party’s successive creditable electoral performances. The official admission about the ineffectiveness of the Gogoi government and his team has made the case of the Gogoi baiters stronger, the party insiders contended. They said now the party high command, too, would be forced to hear out the “justified” dissent against Gogoi and his team. “Only last month, 27 MLAs had submitted a memorandum to Gogoi to drop non-performing ministers to shore up the administration before the 2011 elections. Nothing came of it because of the party’s impressive showing in the municipal and town committee elections. But the Centre’s open criticism will give a boost to this lot’s demand to clip the wings of Gogoi and his team. For the first time in eight years, they have got a potent weapon to use against Gogoi and his team,” one of them said. Neutral Congressmen, too, admitted that the public observations were “unprecedented” and reflected the ground realities that had hampered development in certain pockets of the state. They also felt that the observations were based on feedback from the ground and not on what Dispur must have been “feeding” the Centre. “The observations are a cause for worry because the rap has come from two senior Congress leaders. It surely must have the tacit approval of the party high command which would like the chief minister and his team to pull up their socks to set things right. It is not only about law and order but also about execution of development projects. After eight years in power, expectations are high from the Gogoi government to deliver. It is clearly a wake-up call,” a party insider said at Rajiv Bhawan this afternoon. Singh had said the situation in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland remained “problematic and worrisome” with Assam and Manipur accounting for a disproportionately large number of violent incidents reported from the Northeast. Chidambaram said these three states were most affected vis-à-vis insurgency and he would draw up state-specific plans with them to deal with militant groups. Singh even expressed displeasure over the “unsatisfactory” utilisation of the Rs 750 crore sanctioned by the Centre for the development of the Bodo belt and rehabilitation of those affected by violence there and in North Cachar Hills district. A very guarded Assam PCC general secretary, Haren Das, who is in-charge of the media, said the party had taken note of the observations as it had been widely published in the media. “The problem should be addressed in such a manner that things improve. Our government and the party, both at the state and Centre, are trying to improve things,” he added. The Opposition AGP was quick to pounce on the observations. Its chief spokesman Atul Bora said the Centre should either issue a strict directive to set things right or simply dismiss the “failed” Gogoi government. “We have been proved right about the Gogoi government being an utter failure on all fronts,” he said. AUDF’s working president H.R.A. Choudhury said the Gogoi government was more interested in power than improving law and order or working for development. State BJP vice-president Palit Bora said the observations were a true reflection of the state of affairs. “Coming from a Prime Minister who represents Assam, it only indicates that even a Congress-headed Centre cannot protect a Congress-headed state government any further,” he said.