Blame-game for ‘long rope’ to Tarun Gogoi

A blame-game has begun in the Congress for giving a long rope to Tarun Gogoi, the party’s face in the crucial Assembly polls in Assam, which has helped in the BJP’s revival after its debacle in the Bihar and Delhi elections.

“He (Mr Gogoi) was to be replaced after the Congress’ poor performance in Assam in the Lok Sabha elections... in fact he himself had told TV channels that he wanted to step down but Rahulji protected him,” said a senior leader.

According to him, Mr Gogoi was in the minority in the Congress Legislature Party after the Lok Sabha elections but Mr Rahul Gandhi backed him for unknown reasons. And the defeat in Assam is bound to have a bearing on the Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand Assembly elections.

Another leader, a CWC member, viewed that it was a blunder on the part of the high command to take corrective steps in Assam in the last two years and allowed Himanta Biswa Sarma to join the BJP.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had earlier replaced chief ministers in Maharashtra (Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan), Uttarakhand (Vijay Bahuguna) and Orissa (Giridhar Gamang) but did not touch Mr Gogoi.

Significantly, party insiders are also holding the central leadership responsible for allying with the Left in West Bengal. “We would have been in power with Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee... this was needed after the crushing defeat in the general election, but have now made the TMC our main rival in the state,” they said.

The Congress’ every move has been helping the BJP at a time when regional parties have successfully checked the BJP’s march to emerge as an all-India party in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Delhi and, perhaps, the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. If the Congress had annoyed the NCP in Maharashtra, the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh gave the BJP space in Andhra and Telangana as well, they pointed out.