The alleged anti-party activities of three of its MLAs have triggered resentment within the Congress party in Assam.
The three MLAs are Rekibuddin Ahmed, who represents the Chaygaon Assembly seat, Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah from Titabar, and Abdul Batin Khandakar of Abhayapuri North.
Mr. Baruah and Mr. Khandakar came under fire after participating in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s Amrit Kalash Yatra on October 2. Mr. Ahmed, believed to be close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has been accused of leaking party secrets to the BJP.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president, Naba Talukdar said that party workers across the State were unhappy with the leadership not taking any action against the three MLAs for their anti-party activities.
“We are submitting a memorandum to [State Congress president] Bhupen Kumar Bora on October 9 and give a 48-hour deadline to take action against the three MLAs or seek forgiveness from the party workers,” he told journalists in Guwahati on October 6.
Mr. Talukar did not rule out the possibility of mass resignation from the party if no action is taken against the three MLAs.
The issue is expected to dominate the party’s political affairs committee meeting scheduled on October 11. The party’s Assam in-charge, Jitendra Singh is expected to chair the meeting.
The MLAs have insisted that they have not gone against the party.
Mr. Khandakar was quoted as saying that Amrit Kalash Yatra was a government programme and there was no directive from Congress not to participate in it.
Congress had won 29 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections but lost two of them – Rupjyoti Kurmi representing the Mariani seat and Sushanta Borgohain representing Thowra – to the BJP.
