Remove Osmani from APCC minority cell, Sonia urged

GUWAHATI, April 12: At a time when the Assembly elections are nearing, the ruling Congress is busy quelling fresh dissidence which has surfaced in the party. In an apparent move to impress upon the Congress high command that all is well within the Tarun Gogoi-led Government in the State, all the Congress ministers and MLAs belonging to the minority community last night submitted a memorandum to Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi, urging her to remove Barpeta MP Md Golam Osmani from the post of the chairman of the APCC minority cell for his alleged anti-party activities. A similar memorandum, separately signed by 60 ministers and MLAs, was also submitted to the Congress supremo.

In their memorandum, the Congress ministers and MLAs of the State alleged that Osmani was trying to malign the image of the party by speaking against the State Government in several public meetings. Citing the various instances when Osmani was critical of the Tarun Gogoi Government, the memorandum said that the Barpeta MP had openly stated that the Congress Government had done little to better the lot of the minority community in the sar areas of the State, and that it was indulging in corruption. Refuting these allegations levelled by Osmani, the memorandum sought to give a clean chit to the Chief Minister by stating that his Government had been providing land pattas to the people living in the sar areas, besides arranging for drinking water facilities.

The Congress MLAs and ministers alleged that Osmani was trying to incite the minority people to float a new party. The chairman of the Minority Affairs Department of the Congress did not attend the party’s ‘Gramodaya Yatra’ held recently in the city.

It has been learnt that Ms Gandhi had assured the delegation of minority MLAs and ministers that no anti-party activities within the Congress would be tolerated. The matter relating to Osmani’s activities will be investigated at the intra-party level, the Congress supremo reportedly told the delegation.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Chandan Sarkar, said from New Delhi today, said that he would raise the matter regarding Osmani’s charge that he (Sarkar) was instigating the minority ministers and MLAs against him at the disciplinary action committee of the Congress. "It is clear case of anti-party activity on the part of Osmani," Sarkar said, adding that Osmani should air his grievances at the party forum instead of going public. Sarkar further alleged that despite withdrawing an amount of Rs 14 crore from the MPs’ Local Area Development Fund, Osmani had utilized only Rs 2 crore. He demanded a CBI inquiry into this.

It may be mentioned here that the minority ministers who included Rockybul Hussain, Wazed Ali Choudhury, Ismail Hussain, Nazrul Islam and Misbahul Islam Laskar, and MLAs Aftabuddin Mullah, Sajid Majumdar, Dildar Reja, Sukur Ali, Nazrul Umar, Ms Hussainara Islam, Idris Ali, Sultan Siddique, Nurzamal Sarkar, Sheikh Shah Alam, Ms Sarifa Begum, Samsul Haque and Jamaluddin Ahmed also met Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and Arjun Singh, and Congress functionaries Ahmed Patel, Digvijay Singh and Chandan Bagchi and submitted a copy of the memorandum.