Assam Cong leaders citicise Saikia's widow for inviting Mahanta for meeting

Assam Cong leaders citicise Saikia's widow for inviting Mahanta for meeting
Express News Service

Guwahati, Aug 28: Is there any harm if Assam chief minister Praffulla Kumar Mahanta is invited by former chief minister and Congress leader Hiteswar Saikia's widow Hemaprabha Saikia to a meeting held in connection with the foundation day of an NGO ?Well, if one puts the question to Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and Lok Sabha member Tarun Gogoi, then it is definitely a mistake on the part of Hemaprabha Saikia.In fact, Hemaprabha Saikia's act of inviting Mahanta to the foundation day function of Assam Sewa Samiti here on Friday has raked up such a controversy that it has been getting front page coverage in a major section of the local media here for the past three days.Mahanta, who virtually grabbed the opportunity to attend the function presided over by Hemaprabha Saikia, a senior Congress legislator, who is also president of the Sewa Samiti, also took the opportunity to castigate other Congress leaders who refrained from attending the meeting because he too was invited.Those prominent Congress leaders who carefully kept themselves away from the function included State president Tarun Gogoi, APCC general secretary Sarat Barkotoki, and former chief minister Bhumidhar Barman too.Taking advantage of their absence, chief minister Mahanta not only lauded the efforts of Assam Sewa Samiti in helping create an atmosphere of peace, but also complimented Hemaprabha Saikia for her personal efforts towards this goal.(It may be recalled that so strong was the political enmity between Hiteswar Saikia and Mahanta that the latter, as opposition leader had even stayed away from placing a wreath on Saikia's body when the latter had died in April, 1996, not to speak of any Asom Gana Parishad leader attending the funeral.)And as Mahanta, in the Assam Sewa Samiti meeting said that all groups should sink their political differences in tackling insurgency and militancy, Hema Bharali, a veteran Gandhain social worker in her speech lambasted the Congress leaders for not attending the meeting."It is unfortunate that some political leaders are so deep into party politics that they even try to pollute the arena of social work by their acts. One should first learn to remove their political chappals before entering the temple of social work," the veteran Gandhain social worker said.This has so irked state Congress president Tarun Gogoi that he has come out with a statement accusing Saikia's widow of spreading mis-information regarding the Assam Sewa Samiti meeting. Gogoi has said that by inviting Mahanta to the meeting, Hemaprabha Saikia had created a confusion among the Congress leaders and workers of the state.Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhumidhar Barman on his part has said that it was surprising that Hemaprabha Saikia had invited chief minister Mahanta by ignoring senior Congress leaders who had always stood by the Assam Sewa Samiti.Reacting to these, Hemaprabha Saikia said today that she found nothing wrong in inviting chief minister Mahanta. "After all he is the head of a government elected under provisions of the Constitution. Neither is he an outlaw, nor is the Sewa Samiti a banned organisation. I do not understand why the Congress leaders are so disappointed," she said.But the local media has tried to find different political angles to the incident. One leading newspaper, analysing the issue, said that Hemaprabha Saikia, who has been sidelined by the state Congress leadership since her husband's death was trying to hit back at them by discrediting them.