Tarun Gogoi offers to resign as Assam CM

Owning moral responsibility for the Congress’ poll debacle in Assam, the party’s longest-serving CM of the state, Tarun Gogoi, today announced of resigning from the position.
He said he will soon meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi to put in his papers but added that he will continue to be part of active politics and help the party revive its fortunes.
The Congress, which had remained undefeated in elections at all levels in the state since 2001, could manage to secure only three seats in yesterday’s results, down from the seven seats it had won in 2009 general elections. Among the three winners for the party is  Gogoi’s son Gaurav from Kaliabor constituency.
It had won a thumping majority of 79 legislators in the state Assembly of 126 members in 2011 polls.
Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan here,  Gogoi said, ‘I will soon meet Sonia Gandhiji and tell her that I want to quit office, owning moral responsibility for the party’s defeat here.’
‘But I will not leave politics and will continue to work to revive the party,’ he added.
He said it was up to the party high command to decide on his fate.
The CM had announced before the polls that he will resign if the party’s tally went down from seven in the state.
 Gogoi, however, defended Sonia-Rahul Gandhi over the Congress’ national drubbing in the polls and said, ‘I believe that Sonia-Rahul Gandhi are true leaders of the Congress. They have an unmatched commitment to the nation.’ ‘Except Mahatma Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi was the only person who could resist becoming the PM even when she had the mandate for it,’ he said, referring to Ms Gandhi’s refusing the PM’s chair when UPA-I had come to power in 2004.
On the probable causes of the party’s defeat in the state, the CM said, ‘We will analyse the results constituency-wise. We will have to find out why we failed to reach out to the people despite our numerous welfare activities.’
He conceded that the party perhaps failed to attract the young voters, who were swayed by Narendra Modi’s assurances.
‘Power sometimes brings a sense of arrogance and complacency. After so many wins, we (Congress) may have fallen to these vices to some extent. We have to look into all these,’  Gogoi added.
On APCC chief Bhubaneswar Kalita’s hinting at resigning as the state party president yesterday,  Kalita, who was present at the CM’s press conference, said he had no such plans immediately.
‘I accept moral responsibility for the defeat but I will not resign now. Whenever I decide to do so, I will inform the press,’  Kalita said.

~NagalandPost