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Assam Congress keep an eye out for in-house ‘informers’ working as ‘BJP agents’
Last Wednesday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the assembly that he was informed about the decisions taken in the Assam CLP meeting held the previous day
The Congress in Assam is trying to identify possible “informers” in their organisation who are working for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, just a week after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed in the state assembly that he had information on the developments within the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meetings.
Though Sarma withdrew his remarks following a breach of privilege motion filed by the Congress, the incident has put the opposition party on alert.
“Whoever he or she may be, we at Assam Pradesh Congress Committee will not tolerate any such indiscipline. Strict disciplinary actions will be taken for the greater interest of our party,” state Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said on Sunday.
Last Wednesday, Sarma told the assembly that he was informed about the decisions taken in the Assam CLP meeting held the previous day. The statement triggered sloganeering from the Congress bench, forcing speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the proceedings twice, and suspend two Congress MLAs and an Independent legislator for a day.
On Saturday, Congress MLA Asif Mohammed Nazar praised Sarma and said had the CM (who had left the party in 2015) been in the Congress, they would have been far ahead of others. He also praised Sarma for being a “hard working man”.
The Congress slapped a show cause notice on Nazar over this and said will take disciplinary actions against him, if required.
Also Read:‘No time for Rahul Gandhi…’: Himanta Biswa Sarma on Congress’ protests over disqualification
Meanwhile, on Sunday a video of another Congress MLA, Nandita Das, allegedly recording proceedings of an executive committee meeting of the party went viral on social media.
“It was not a closed-door meeting and there were no instructions to not carry mobile phones or record proceedings. I recorded the speech of one leader, and as it was important, I wanted to keep it for reference,” Das told journalists later.
Leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia dismissed rumours that Das may have leaked the party’s developments to the BJP and said the MLA had already clarified about it to the state leadership.
The Congress had won 29 seats in the 126-member Assam assembly in 2021, but now have only 24 after three of them quit the organisation and two got expelled for anti-party activities.
