Guwahati: Here is the big news! Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had a free and frank discussion with the members of press during his Assam tour on Saturday. He answered a series of questions ranging from Assam elections, national affairs and those pertaining to international relations but several others remained in the dark.
On a two day tour to Assam, Rahul Gandhi met the editors of the local media houses and bureau chiefs of national media for a breakfast interaction. The meeting went on for over an hour but here is bummer for all of you looking for the juicy titbits, most of what was discussed have been kept off the record.
But while speaking on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the politics around it, he did agree to go on record and cleared the air on the allegations that Congress was trying to scuttle GST using the National Herald case.
To what can be seen as some sort of a relief to the ruling quarters, the Congress vice president said that the National Herald case has nothing to do with the stalled GST. It is not going to be the reason because of which GST would be stopped, he said. "Our concerns are about those three points. If those are addressed, we will support GST," he said.
Even as the GST Bill will be listed in Parliament in the coming week, it remains to be seen whether the BJP makes the amendments and if Congress indeed sticks to its stand.
After the interaction Rahul proceeded for his Barpetta padyatra, an area of strategic importance for Congress. Barpetta is in lower Assam, where there is a strong minority population. When Assam goes to polls in 2016, this is one region where Congress would try to mop up as many seats as possible.
In Barpetta's five assembly seats, Congress managed to get only one while the rest went to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF is one of the strongest parties in this region, and if Congress has to return to power, it will have to capture some of these seats in the region, to offset the gains made by BJP in North Assam.
But will Rahul's visit enthuse the workers to beat the strong anti-incumbancy against the 15-year-old Tarun Gogoi government? Can Assam do a Bihar or would the BJP use this state to reverse its fortune? These are certainly the things, high powered breakfast could not answer.
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