(Image source from: Congress facing dissent from within})
After its poll debacle in the recent general elections, the Congress party is going through tough time. Two, out of the 12 states in which it currently has chief ministers, the Indian National Congress is facing party rebels.
Narayan Rane, senior Congress leader and Maharashtra industries minister submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today. But Rane has not resigned from the Congress. This shows that the state congress leaders are unhappy with their chief minister.
The Congress dissent in Maharashtra comes at a time when the government has to deal with its ally NCP, which wants more seats for the upcoming election elections this year.
In Assam, Congress leaders are absolutely unhappy with their chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Health and education minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma, who is Assam CM's main rival, quit and took with him 31 other MLAs. The ministers in Assam want Gogoi to resign immediately as chief minister.
Both the Assam and Maharashtra chief ministers have a direct support of the Congress high command. So the party rebels indicate a disillutionment with the top leaders. Gogoi enjoys the support of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who told him to control the rebels.
Again Chavan also enjoys the support of party high command. Recently AICC General Secretary Mohan Prakash had announced that Chavan would continue as Maharashtra chief minister and will lead the party in the coming elections.
But if recent events are any indication, then the party's confidence in their chief ministers seems to be rather misplaced in these two states.
The Congress could find itself in deeper waters in states like Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, if the problem in Assam is not resolved soon, according to reports in The Telegraph.
Over 20 Congress legislators in Manipur have been seeking the resignation of their Chief Minister Okram Ibobi. They wanted a cabinet reshuffle. In Manipur, there are two groups of protesting MLAs. One group consists of MLAs who were never ministers and want a ministerial berths for themselves. The other group consists of ex-ministers who want upgraded berths due to their experience. They are not willing to listen to Ibobi and postpone their demands. The members want a specific time frame that their demands will be met within the stipulated period.
(AW: Pratima Tigga)
