GUWAHATI, March 28: Former Union Minister and outgoing Congress member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam, Matang Singh on Friday urged party president Sonia Gandhi to immediately dismiss Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Tarun Gogoi for Santosh Mohan Deb's defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls. After the Rajya Sabha's declaration of election results, Singh told The Indian Express that Gogoi, as the APCC chief owed moral responsibility and should immediately resign.``If he does not resign then Soniaji should dismiss him. It was Gogoi who had taken the responsibility and assured the party president that Deb will get elected,'' Singh said.
Incidently, Singh was unhappy with the state Congress chief because Gogoi had earlier denied him a renomination to the Rajya Sabha, and had allotted the ticket to Deb. ``Some Congress general secretaries misguided Sonia Gandhi and convinced her into allowing the Assam PCC to decide the candidates,'' Matang Singh said.
Deb, who was the lone candidate for the twoRajya Sabha seats of Assam which have failed vacant, lost to Drupad Borgohain of the CPI, who was a common candidate fielded by the AGP and its allies. The other candidate who got elected is Arun Kumar Sharma of the AGP, who was the member of the eleventh Lok Sabha, but had lost in Lakhimpur to a Congress candidate last month.
AGP and its allies, CPI (M), who needed four votes to ensure Deb's defeat, even roped in the support of four BJP MLAs, which made the sailing smooth for Borgohain of the CPI.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
