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Internal fight : Osmani sets terms to stay on in Cong |
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Lok Sabha MP from Assam, A.F. Golam Osmani, has laid down conditions before the Congress high command for the withdrawal of his resignation, two weeks after he went public with another conditional resignation letter.
Osmani explained his position to party president Sonia Gandhi when he called on her at her residence. He demanded that the state party leadership be changed and tainted ministers be dropped from the Tarun Gogoi government.
“Acceptance of these conditions would benefit the party since Assembly polls are knocking on the door. I am still a Congressman and my grievances are against the state leadership,” the controversial MP said after meeting the party president.
He said he would wait till January 20 for a response from the high command. “If they are unwilling to accept the demands, then I will go ahead and join the United Minorities Front (UMF).”
Osmani has been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi since the past few years on the ground that the government has failed to usher in development of minority-dominated areas in Assam. To justify his argument, the MP has often cited the condition at the existing relief camps that were set up after riots in minority-dominated areas that had left several hundreds homeless.
His ire against the state government increased after the Supreme Court struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act on the plea that it lacked teeth to detect illegal migrants. He was of the view that the government did not do enough to argue convincingly before the apex court that such a provision was necessary in the state for the protection of genuine citizens.
Osmani had faxed his resignation on December 23, the last day of Parliament’s winter session. He had said he would continue in the party till the last day of the budget session and extend support on issues that would be raised by the Congress in Parliament. Subsequently, senior leaders had decided to give him an audience and convince him to withdraw the resignation.
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