NEW DELHI, June 10 � Expansion of the Tarun Gogoi government may be delayed yet again, with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi clarifying that he is yet to get the final nod from the party high command.
Talking to newsmen, the Chief Minister confirmed that the matter came up for discussion at yesterday�s meeting. �No I am yet to get the final approval,� he said.
The Chief Minister admitted that he had submitted the panel of names. �AICC is normally busy with various things, they will give the clearance,� he opined.
Yesterday, APCC president Anjan Dutta had told newsmen that the minor difference that had stalled the process had been resolved and expansion would take place shortly.
However, party sources said that the difference between Dutta and Gogoi over the names had led the AICC to delay the approval. At yesterday�s meeting an attempt was made to evolve a consensus between the two leaders, sources said.
Meanwhile, in an interesting development, Gogoi ruled out the possibility of any disciplinary action against Himanta Biswa Sarma. �He has to first break party discipline before such action can be taken,� replied the Chief Minister.
There might be differences among leaders but that did not mean that such cases could be described as violation of party discipline, he observed.
At the meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, the State Congress leadership was given the responsibility of taking disciplinary action without referring the cases to the AICC.
When asked who would be given the responsibility of leading the party in the next Assembly polls, Gogoi said that such decisions were taken by the party high command. �Whoever is given the responsibility to lead the campaign would do so, though I am told that I will have to ensure the Congress party�s victory,� Gogoi claimed.
