Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi's fate continues to hang in balance, with the dissidents scaling up their efforts seek his ouster. And the person spearheading the campaign is his erstwhile protege; Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state's powerful health minister.
Mr Sarma claims to enjoy the backing of a majority of the Congress' 78 lawmakers in Assam. He also wields considerable clout with the party high command. And in case the party decides to go in for a leadership change in the north-eastern state, he holds a fair chance of taking over as Assam chief minister.
Congress Parliamentary Party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who was sent to Assam by party chief Sonia Gandhi to assess the mood among the lawmakers, concluded his discussions yesterday. He held one-on-one meetings with MPs, MLAs, ministers and other senior leaders during his two-day stay in Guwahati.
Mr Gogoi, 78, established himself as one of the top-most leaders of the Congress after he led his party to a comfortable victory in the assembly polls held in 2011. He, however, started facing dissidence from a section of his cabinet in the past couple of years.
His position became more vulnerable after the Congress suffered dramatic reverses in the Lok Sabha polls. Narendra Modi's BJP bagged 7 of the 14 seats, leaving the Congress clutching at 3 seats only.
Mr Sarma, however, sought to downplay the possibility of him emerging as a strong contender for the chief minister's post. "It is not important who takes over the chief ministership. There are three assembly by-elections and we also have the forthcoming civic polls to contend with. Congress has to win the three by-polls,'' he told NDTV.
"Congress has to remain relevant and important. In 2016, Assam elections, Congress should see a turn around to make up for the loss,'' he added.