AICC Gives Assam Congress Full Autonomy on Poll Decisions: Gaurav Gogoi
It is significant that Mr Gogoi, who is in New Delhi along with senior Assam Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, attended a screening committee meeting to discuss election strategies and potential candidates.
Guwahati: Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday said the central leadership of the party has given the state unit full autonomy to take decisions regarding the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.
Clarifying that the APCC has been advised to consult the party high command on certain key matters before taking final calls, Mr Gogoi told reporters, “We held discussions regarding strategies for different districts of Assam. Another round of talks will be held soon in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge.”
It is significant that Mr Gogoi, who is in New Delhi along with senior Assam Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, attended a screening committee meeting to discuss election strategies and potential candidates.
He reiterated that the state unit has been empowered to take decisions related to the Assembly polls. “APCC has been given full autonomy to take decisions regarding the elections in Assam, though we have been advised to discuss some of the matters with the high command beforehand,” he said.
About the ongoing seat-sharing negotiations with alliance partners, Mr Gogoi said that discussions are progressing and expressed hope for a cooperative approach from all parties.
He said, “We are expecting a similar approach from all our partners. Discussions with Raijor Dal are still underway, and we will again have talks with the Congress central election committee soon.”
Pointing out that they are yet to take a final decision on list of candidates, the leader of opposition Mr Saikia said that a meeting of the screening committee in New Delhi on Monday primarily focused on identifying potential candidates for various constituencies.
Mr Saikia while reacting to speculation about the trouble in opposition alliance, said, “We don’t know who is behind the rumours about our alliance but there is no discord among the leaders working out an alliance of opposition political parties to remove BJP from power.”
He claimed that talks are going on with Akhil Gogoi and his party, and that discussions are also being held with the Assam Jatiya Parishad and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Mr Saikia said, “The talks with Akhil Gogoi are taking some time but we all agree that we have to try to move forward with understanding.”
