AGP accuses Cong of bid to malign Mahanta

GUWAHATI, Dec 13: With the threat of the letter of credit (LoC) scandal hanging over it, the ruling Asom Gana Parishad has decided that att...

GUWAHATI, Dec 13: With the threat of the letter of credit (LoC) scandal hanging over it, the ruling Asom Gana Parishad has decided that attack is the best form of defence. Its spokesperson and State Assembly Deputy Speaker Nurul Hussain yesterday took the battle to the Congress camp, accusing former Union minister Matang Singh of a conspiracy to defame Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

“The Congress,” Hussain said, “has been trying to influence a section of the media to carry out a calculated campaign against Mahanta on the eve of the elections.” He asserted that Mahanta was “in no way involved in the scandal” and that it was the Congress which was “a beneficiary of the massive embezzlement”.

Hussain also alleged that “at times”, Singh behaved like the director of the CBI, and was destroying the credibility of the agency.

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With the CBI scheduled to submit its final report on the scandal to the Guwahati High Court on January 6, pressure is mounting on the AGP. The general speculation is that Mahanta’s name figures prominently in the charge-sheet, along with that of two other AGP members and two Congress leaders.

The Opposition has been quick to milk the rumours, especially in the light of the coming general election. Whether Mahanta gets named or not, the issue is likely to dominate the polls.

Realising this, the AGP has been complaining that the Congress is exerting pressure on CBI chief RC Sharma to “indict” Mahanta by any means. It has also been insisting that the scandal won’t be a major issue in the polls, and that the people would vote for the AGP and its allies for their “success” on the law and order front.

“The people have agreed that the AGP-led Government has handled militancy in a positive manner,” Hussain claimed yesterday. “The ULFA is willing to talk, thanks to the positive thrust by our government as well as the initiative taken by the United Front Government at the Centre.”

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The Communist Party of India, an important AGP ally, has also expressed confidence that they would do well in the elections. A party spokesperson yesterday said the UF Government’s economic package for the region would get them votes.

The AGP and its allies had bagged six of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam in the 1996 general election. Of these, the AGP won five, and the CPM one. Another seat was won by a member associated with the alliance, Jayanta Rongpi of the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), who has since pulled out.

The Congress had won five seats. Now, it is banking on the LoC scam, hoping its fallout would get it more constituencies.