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North-East Diary: Why Gaurav Gogoi’s appointment troubles the Assam CM so much

2 months ago 10

The assignment of Gaurav Gogoi arsenic president of the Assam authorities Congress earlier this week has stirred up caller involvement successful the assembly elections owed to beryllium held successful 2026.

Gaurav Gogoi, lad of erstwhile main curate Tarun Gogoi and a Member of Parliament since 2014, is besides the lawman person of the enactment successful the existent Lok Sabha.

While his assignment appears to person enthused enactment workers — Bhupen Borah’s three-year word arsenic authorities Congress president had ended successful 2024 and galore observers judge that Gogoi’s assignment has been unnecessarily delayed — and has the support of overmuch of civilian nine successful the state, main curate Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused the Congress of foisting a ‘dangerous and compromised’ idiosyncratic successful nationalist life.

The CM has upped the ante successful his relentless onslaught connected Gogoi of precocious — including but not constricted to calling him a ‘Pakistani agent’ connected the payrolls of the ISI. He has adjacent announced the enactment of a SIT (special probe team) to inquire into Gogoi’s alleged ‘anti-national acts’.

In part, this is simply a absorption to the information that the request for Gogoi’s assignment to captaincy of the Assam Congress has been increasing since helium won the Jorhat Lok Sabha spot successful 2024, contempt Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigning hard to guarantee his defeat. Gogoi defeated the BJP campaigner by a borderline of implicit 1.14 lakh votes and dealt a humiliating stroke to the main minister, who nevertheless led the BJP to triumph 10 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats successful the state.

However, by yet appointing Gogoi, the Congress has signalled its refusal to succumb to the voluble main minister’s bullying.

Observers constituent retired that Gogoi’s triumph from Jorhat was due to the fact that of the wholehearted enactment of mean people. The Congress, they say, was nary lucifer for the wealth oregon musculus powerfulness of the BJP oregon its bullying tactics, replete with threats of withholding payment schemes if they did not guarantee Gogoi’s defeat. The BJP attempts failed, nevertheless — and that is wherefore Congress workers judge Gogoi volition beryllium capable to energise civilian nine against specified tactics again adjacent year.

As for Gogoi, wrong days of his appointment, the Congress person has besides gone connected the violative connected section issues.

He has alleged that household members of Himanta Biswa Sarma ain arsenic galore arsenic 17 companies successful the authorities and instrumentality their spot successful the richest crust of nine with their ownership of beverage gardens, media outlets, acquisition institutions, diversified businesses and premier land. Gogoi has demanded an enquiry into however these companies had cornered authorities contracts and were favoured by antithetic departments.

Gogoi besides raised the contented of illegal rathole mining of coal successful the authorities and pointed retired that arsenic galore arsenic 239 specified mines were working. Under whose patronage person they flourished and wherefore has determination been nary enquiry instituted by the authorities authorities into each of them, helium asked.

The Assam Congress main has besides responded to his alleged Pakistan links. His woman is simply a nonrecreational specialising successful argumentation and was employed by an planetary organisation moving connected clime change, helium noted. She was posted for immoderate clip successful Pakistan and helium himself had visited Pakistan erstwhile successful 2013, earlier helium became an MP.

Pointing retired that outer affairs curate S. Jaishankar’s woman was besides a overseas nationalist and 1 of his sons a British national, Gogoi added that thing Himanta Biswa Sarma says makes overmuch sense.

***

In Manipur, Peace is Still Fragile

The five-day Shirui Lily Festival, held aft a spread of 2 years, concluded connected 24 May.

Shirui is the authorities angiosperm of Manipur and endemic to Shirui Valley. Attemps to turn it elsewhere person been unsuccessful and owed to changes successful climatic conditions and indiscriminate plucking, the uncommon taxon is successful information of extinction. A pinkish flower, it is claimed that nether the microscope it tin amusement 7 antithetic hues.

Hosted and promoted by Manipur tourism department, the festival, a joyous juncture with music, food, dancing and quality pageants, reflected this twelvemonth the scars of the ongoing taste struggle and marred by 2 unfortunate incidents.

Scaling the 9,304-foot Shiruli peak, which is simply a portion of the festival, saw a radical of Meiteis, allegedly from a portion of the militant group Arambai Tenggol, hoist the seven-coloured emblem representing 7 Meitei clans. Tangkhul Naga groups claimed the Meiteis had desecrated a ineffable hill, the root of galore rivers and streams successful the Ukhrul district.

#breaking Separatist Flags raised by Meitei Terrorist Outfit #ArambaiTenggol successful Shirui Hills of Manipur.

Arambai Tenggol outfit tally by the titular King of Manipur and BJP MP, hoisted the SALAI TARET emblem connected Shirui Hills - aclear message: Manipur belongs to Meitei! pic.twitter.com/mEZbxRZxmy— (@KaleshiBua) May 23, 2025

Tangkhul Naga Long, the apex societal assemblage of the community, said the enactment was “an utterly disgraceful and despicable effort by Arambai Tenggol to politicise the tone of the festival for petty governmental gains astatine the incorrect spot and astatine the incorrect time”.

The Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong, the apex students’ body, said the festival embodies peace, ecological consciousness, and taste pridefulness of the Nagas inhabiting the region. “It is, therefore, a sedate provocation by a faction identifying itself arsenic the Cobra Team Unit 58,” it said successful a statement.

The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, oregon NSCN (I-M), waded into the contention and asserted that the ‘Salai Taret’ flag had nary cultural, historical, oregon governmental transportation with the Tangkhuls. Arambai Tenggol had erstwhile again proved themselves to beryllium thing but a clump of ‘warmongers’ provoking peace-loving Tangkhuls,” it added.

Dear Hon'ble Governor @BhallaAjay26 ji, it has travel to our announcement that Arambai Tenggol Unit 58 (Cobra Unit) has unfurled violent flags astatine Shirui Hills. We petition that you inquire @manipur_police to instrumentality stringent enactment against them immediately. @PMOIndia @HMOIndia pic.twitter.com/XHwjLd5tJp— Chhotubhai Vasava (@Chhotu_Vasava) May 23, 2025

In a conciliatory statement, the Arambai Tenggol then sought to defuse the tension. Slogans raised, including ‘Long live, Manipur’, were messages of unity and were not meant to endanger immoderate community, it said. The connection added that the emblem should not beryllium construed arsenic a territorial assertion oregon provocation, “just arsenic the show of a country’s emblem connected Mount Everest successful the Himalayas does not connote ownership of the peaks”.

Even arsenic the quality with Naga groups appeared to simmer down, the Meitei organisation Coordinating Committee connected Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) demanded an apology from the politician and organised protests, rallies, torch-lit processions and sit-ins against the bid to “undermine the individuality of Manipur, its name, pridefulness and respect”.