Grappling with a rebellion in the Congress’ Assam unit, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had two rounds of meetings with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi here on Wednesday.
Party sources said the Chief Minister was told to control the rebels within a specified time or convene a meeting of the Congress Legislature party to elect a new leader.
The three-member party committee, set up more than a week ago to deal with the political crisis, also met separately to discuss the situation in the State. Ghulam Nabi Azad, C.P. Joshi and Motilal Vora are members of the panel.
Mr. Gogoi’s discussions with Mr. Gandhi come 10 days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi turned down the CM’s offer to step down taking moral responsibility for the party’s poor showing in the elections in the State.
Congress sources said it was the opinion of senior leaders that a split in the party could be avoided if the Assam Cabinet was reshuffled. The political crisis has resulted in the government functioning virtually coming to a standstill.
More than 40 MLAs , led by Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, have challenged Mr. Gogoi’s leadership and demanded a change of guard.
