With the Prime Minister shifting the Department for Development of Northeastern Region from Arun Shourie to C.P Thakur in this week’s reshuffle, the region has been deprived of working with a ‘‘close friend’’.‘‘Arun Shourie is an old friend of the people of the region. We in the Asom Gana Parishad have an old personal association with him. Taking away the Northeast Development portfolio from him will definitely effect the development of the region. But we hope the new incumbent will be able to understand our aspirations,’’ said Brindaban Goswami, president of the AGP.Shourie, as the chief editor of The Indian Express was not only present in the historic convention organised by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in October, 1985, in which the AGP was born, but was also a major speaker in the meeting.Goswami pointed out that despite Shourie heading the department, the governments of different states of the region failed to take the advantage. ‘‘The Congress government in Assam, for instance, adopted a confrontational posture against Shourie with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi engaging in a war of attrition with him,’’ Goswami said.
