Sinha’s ouster urged for shielding Mahanta

GUWAHATI, Jan 27: Twenty-five members of the Rajya Sabha belonging to the Congress party have written to the President, K R Narayanan, demanding immediate removal of Assam Governor S K Sinha with the complaint that the latter was trying to protect Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in the multi-crore Letters of Credit (LoC) scandal. The MPs, led by fomer Union miniser Matang Singh, reiterated that Sinha was delaying grant of sanction to the CBI to prosecute Mahanta and was proposing to withhold it till the elections were over.

“The Governor has assumed the role of a trial court by stating that his responsibility is not just to decide whether there is a prima facie case against Mahanta but also to assess whether the case made out by the CBI is backed by adequate evidence” the MPs, in their three-page letter to the President said. The CBI has named Mahanta as an accused by the CBI in the LoC scam, and sought the permission of the Governor to prosecute him.

Others who have figured in the CBI letterseeking sanction for prosecution increase former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Veterinary Minister Nakul Das. The Congress MPs also alleged that Sinha, on being named the Assam Governor even sought special powers from the Union Govt to preside over the State Cabinet meetings “so that he would be able to have a better hold over the law and order situation in the state.”

Now he was openly protecting the accused and “is refusing to follow the norms” to grant sanction, they alleged. They also alleged that Sinha, during a recent trip to Delhi met several BJP leaders and promised to continue a `soft’ approach towards Mahanta to ensure that in the post-poll scenario, the AGP could join hands with the BJP in case the latter forms the Goverment.