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Mahanta sought money, says Gogoi

Sushanta Talukdar

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday alleged that the Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive) president and former Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, approached the Congress central leadership for money to defeat the AGP in the last Assembly elections.

He also alleged that Mr. Mahanta met Digvijay Singh, then part in-charge of the State, in that connection.

Mr. Gogoi told journalists that he was opposed to the Congress wasting money and told the party leadership that the former Chief Minister did not have much influence among voters.

Refutes charge

Mr. Mahanta, however, refuted the allegation and said he never met Sonia Gandhi after the demise of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

He alleged that Mr. Gogoi was making the “undignified, baseless and false statement only to cover up his own failure on all fronts and because he was worried about the proposed unification of the regional parties in the State.”

Mr. Mahanta said he would explore legal action against Mr. Gogoi for “defaming him.”

“When I was Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, Lalu Prasad, Digvijay Singh, Devi Lal were also Chief Ministers and we had exchange of ideas and I still have cordial relations with them. When I was Chief Minister, Mr. Gogoi too had come to my residence. Should I now say that he had sought money but I did not give him money? Even now some Congress Ministers talk to me over telephone. So what,” he asked.

Mr. Gogoi’s allegation came a couple of hours ahead of a scheduled meeting of the AGP to discuss the proposed unification of the regional parties, including the AGP(P) led by Mr. Mahanta.

“A positive step”

On Wednesday, a meeting of the executive body of the AGP(P) welcomed the initiative taken by the AGP for unification as a “positive step.” It urged all regional parties to expedite the unification process to provide a strong alternative to “corruption and misrule of the Congress.”

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