NEW DELHI, March 25 ? In keeping with its principle of one-man-one-post, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) today appointed senior MP Paban Singh Ghatowar as president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (AICC). Although Sri Ghatowar was tipped to take over the State Congress chief?s post for sometime now, the AICC weighed all options including consultations with Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi before announcing his appointment here today. Sri Ghatowar was summoned by the general secretary in-charge for Assam, Kamal Nath this morning to hand over his appointment letter signed by AICC president, Sonia Gandhi. Ghatowar then drove down straight to Sri Gogoi?s Teen Murty Lane house, just before the Chief Minister?s departure for Guwahati, to formally thank him. Sri Ghatowar is likely to arrive in Guwahati on March 30 after Holi to formally take over charge of the State Congress president?s post.
Meanwhile, reacting to his appointment Sri Ghatowar told this newspaper that his priority would be to strengthen the party at the grassroots level and to ensure the party?s full cooperation to the Government in implementing the Gogoi government?s policies. The MP, said he is likely to appoint his own team of office-bearers within a month of his taking over charge. Belonging to the tea tribe community, Sri Ghatowar is a popular MP of the party and represents Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency. He is also general secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party, a post he won with a record margin of votes. The transition of power in the ruling State Congress was smooth, though last minute attempts were reported to have been made by the Chief Minister?s loyalists to scuttle the move. The Chief Minister during the last couple of days has had several rounds of meetings with Kamal Nath.
The Chief Minister?s adviser, Dr B C Lahkar?s candidature was in circulation recently, but it was ruled out, as the proposal reportedly did not find favour with majority of the State Congressmen. Dr Lahkar was in the capital and had a brief meeting with Sonia Gandhi last week. According to a senior State Congress leader Dr Lahkar, a political lightweight was backed because Sri Gogoi was less likely to feel apprehensive under his leadership. The whole idea was not to allow an alternate power centre to develop in the State,? he said. Dr Lahkar, however, told this newspaper that he was not in the race and was in the capital in connection with a study on Chinese elementary education system. Referring to his meeting Sonia Gandhi, he clarified that it was more of a get-to-know kind of affair then anything else. He asserted that the issue of appointment of a new party president did not even figure during the meeting. ?Where is the question of being an aspirant when I had declined the offer last June,? he said. It may be mentioned that Sri Gogoi?s loyalists had mounted campaigns in the recent past to stall the move to appoint a new president, arguing that he should not be disturbed until all the scheduled elections were over. They had also pleaded that the new president, if appointed should be of Sri Gogoi?s choice to avoid friction between the party and the Government.