Government duty-bound to invite all MLAs: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee

 Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: State Congress president Bhupen Bora on Monday reacted to state Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs minister Piyush Hazarika’s letter the earlier day, stating that the government was duty-bound to invite all MLAs to events organized by the government but that the MLAs reserved the right to attend such events.

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Bora said this while speaking to reporters at Congress headquarters Rajiv Bhawan in the city. He was reacting to the letter addressed to him by state minister Piyush Hazarika on Sunday, seeking Bora’s reply to reports that Congress MLAs have been instructed to stay away from events like the ‘Amrit Kalash Yatra’ and that they would be held accountable for attending such events. He remarked that it was the duty of the state government to invite all MLAs to events and functions organized by the government. However, he said, it was the choice of the MLAs whether they attended or not.

Bora also said that a written reply to the letter would be furnished by APCC working president Kamalakshya Dey Purkayastha.

The APCC president, however, posed the question of whether it would be proper to participate in a procession where the participants are carrying Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s portrait, pointing out that the event had been organized at a time when the CM had been making unsavoury remarks about Rahul and Sonia Gandhi. He said that attendance at such an event by Congress MLAs would break the will of the party workers.

Bhupen Bora, who was in New Delhi recently, said he was questioned on the issue by the Congress leadership there. He also pointed out that ‘Amrit Kalash Yatra’ was held across the country, but in no state did Congress MLAs participate in the event.

“It was my mistake that I did not give any direction to Congress members regarding such matters. I will be more careful in the future,” Bora quipped. He then went on to say that the government should not keep on harping on such issues, adding that the tradition was set during the rule of the Congress.

“When the Congress was in power, the then opposition leaders, the BJP’s Prasanta Phukan, Ranjeet Dass, and Ranjit Dutta were invited to government programmes and annual events, but they never attended. However, this did not affect the development of their constituencies. But now, the CM is making threats that no development will take place in absentee MLAs’ constituencies,” Bora said.

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