The Assam Congress on Friday served a show-cause notice on its MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed for his "politically motivated" statements in reference to the recently held Gorukhuti eviction drive "with the intention of damaging the party's image" ahead of the bypolls in the state.
It also said that allegations are rife within the party and even outside that Ahmed is acting as an "agent of the BJP", and that due to his closeness to the chief minister, he is being sponsored to make such comments to cause harm to the Congress, especially during elections.
In the notice issued by the grand old party's Assam unit general secretary Bobbetta Sharma, the MLA has been asked to furnish an explanation for his actions to state Congress president Bhupen Borah in three days.
Mr Ahmed apparently made the remarks while reacting to reports that said alleged encroachers in Darrang district disrespected the memory of eight people from the area who were killed during the 1983 Assam agitation.
The Baghbor MLA claimed that the eight people who died during the 1983 agitation were not martyrs but killers, as they were involved in slaughtering many others.
The recent eviction drive that was carried out at Gorukhuti in Darrang district had turned violent, leaving at least two persons dead in police firing and several others injured in clashes.
Taking exception to the remarks made by Ahmed, the Assam Congress, in its show cause notice, further said Ahmed had twice earlier made "communally provocative" statements and gone against party discipline.
It added that the "insensitive" statements made by him have "great propensity" to destroy the social harmony of the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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