Take decision on Gogoi's ouster by Sunday: Congress rebels' diktat

Fast running out of patience, dissident Congress legislators in Assam have set Sunday as the deadline for the party high command to take a decision regarding their demand to replace Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

A group of five dissident Congress legislators -- Pradan Baruah, Binanda Saikia, Mansing Rongpi, Bidya Sing Engleng and Habul Chakraborty – said, “We represent a group of 55 people who want Gogoi to step down. We have been waiting for a decision from the high command after senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had a one-on-one with all party legislators on June 23.”

“Of the 78 Congress MLAs, 55 demanded for a change in the state leadership following the drubbing the party received in the state during the recently-concluded party national elections. We still have confidence in the party high command and hope that a decision is taken soon. We, therefore, have decided to wait till Sunday for a decision from the high command before we announce our next course of action.”

The dissident MLAs led by health and education minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma, have been demanding for a change of the chief minister in Assam for the last two years. Pressure mounted after the last Lok Sabha election where Congress managed to win only three seats out of 14 seats in Assam.