Congress backs Gogoi on Assam violence

Amid mounting criticism of Assam government's handling of ethnic violence in the state, Congress on Friday strongly backed chief minister Tarun Gogoi saying it had "full faith" in him.

Amid mounting criticism of Assam government's handling of ethnic violence in the state, Congress on Friday strongly backed chief minister Tarun Gogoi saying it had "full faith" in him.

"We have full faith in our chief minister. Congress fully trusts all its chief ministers," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi told reporters when asked whether Congress has faith in Gogoi's ability to handle the crisis.

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The party, however, steered clear of Gogoi's comment on Friday that the situation would not have deteriorated had the Army been deployed from day one. "There is no need to get into this kind of debate. Centre will give whatever help is required by the state," Alvi said.

The party's strong defence of Gogoi came even as several Muslim MPs, including three from Congress led by former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan, had yesterday expressed loss of confidence in the Congress government in Assam demanding central intervention to end the ethnic clashes there.

After meeting Chidambaram, Khan had on Thursday said "there is failure somewhere. We have lost confidence in state government's ability to control violence and demanded central intervention".

Alvi on Friday said that he is hopeful that all political parties will try to coordinate towards a solution to the problem rather than trying to take political mileage out of it.

"No political party should try to do politics over such an issue. It is a tragic and unfortunate incident," he said.

Alvi said that the Centre will be extending all the support to the state government to tide over the crisis.