New Delhi: It appears Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will have free hand to deal with the dissident activities in the state as Congress President Sonia Gandhi has rejected his resignation. Tarun Gogoi on Thursday met Sonai Gandhi but she rejected his offer to quit, according to state agriculture minister Nilomani Sen Deka. After the Congress got its lowest-ever tally in Assam — 3 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats — in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections, 78-year-old Gogoi had said on Saturday that he would resign within a week. These elections, the BJP won seven seats and the AIUDF three, while one seat was bagged by an independent candidate in the state.
Asked why he did not submit his resignation to the state governor if he was serious, the senior Congress leader said it was the party tradition to submit the resignation letter to Congress president.
On why he did not convene the Congress Legislature Party meeting to discuss the leadership issue, Gogoi, who has been the chief minister of Assam since 2001, said he could not do so as he did now know whether he would remain in the post or not.
The three-time chief minister has already admitted to "arrogance and complacency", but said he would not leave politics and would continue to work for party's recovery.
The Congress debacle in the Lok Sabha election is now viewed within the Congress as major fallout of the ongoing dissidence. On Tuesday night, a group of 45 rebel Congressmen, which include three ministers and rest legislators, met here over dinner.
For the last two years, Gogoi has been a mere spectator to dissident activities in the state by a group of ministers and legislators. He has not been able to crack the whip on dissident activities because of interference from a powerful AICC functionary.
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