All the 14 Ministers in Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam tendered their resignations to the Chief Minister to facilitate Mr. Gogoi effect the much-awaited reshuffle of his ministry when just little over a year is left for the State Assembly elections.
Bharat Narah, Press Adviser to the Chief Minister told The Hindu that 11 of the total 14 Ministers were present in the meeting of Council of Ministers and tendered their resignations. While Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi and Cultural Affairs Minister Pranati Phukan, who were not present in the meeting, had submitted their resignations in advance Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora submitted his resignation later in the night, he said.
Mr. Narah said that the Chief Minister was likely to call on the Governor P.B. Acharya on January 22 to recommend acceptance of either all or some of the resignations and submit the list of new Ministers to be sworn-in. He said that depending on the availability of the Governor, the new Ministers were likely to be sworn-in on January 23.
Planning and Development Minister Tanka Bahadur Rai told waiting journalists after tendering his resignations to Mr. Gogoi that it was prerogative of the Chief Minister whom to induct in his new team. He, however, said that as disciplined party workers they had full trust in party high command and believed that whatever decision had been taken was in the interest of the Congress party. Public Health Engineering Minister Gautam Roy also echoed Mr. Rai that they had submitted their resignations and it was prerogative of the Chief Minister to choose a new team.
Four berths in the Gogoi Ministry are also lying vacant since dissident leader and Congress legislator Himanta Biswa Sarma resigned as Health and Education Minister on July 21, 2014 when he led a delegation of 27 dissident Congress Ministers and legislators to convey to the then Governor J.B. Patnaik that they had lost confidence in Mr. Gogoi. Later Mr. Gogoi dropped two other Ministers included in the delegation — Dr. Ardhendu Dey and Siddeue Ahmed. Earlier in June 2014, the lone member of the Bodoland People’s Front in the Gogoi Ministry Chandan Brahma quit after his party withdraw support to the Gogoi-led government ending eight year long coalition between the two parties. In 126-member Assam Assembly, the size of the ministry is limited to 19 including the Chief Minister.
PCC President Anjan Dutta has warned of stringent disciplinary action if any legislator raises the banner of revolt over reshuffle of the ministry by Mr. Gogoi. Over the past two and half years the Congress legislators — dissidents as well as Gogoi-loyalists — were mounting pressure on him and the party high command for effecting reshuffle of the ministry alleging that non-performance of some Ministers had led to erosion of the support base of the ruling party.
Names of probables in the new team of Mr. Gogoi started doing rounds in Congress circle after news of Mr. Gogoi summoning last meeting of his council of Ministers to start the process of Ministry reshuffle.
