GUWAHATI, Feb 25 � Public activist Professor Deven Dutta has decried Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi�s stay at the Raj Bhawan tonight, calling it highly objectionable. Dutta questioned the official status of Gandhi to become a guest of the Raj Bhawan.
Asserting that such instance would destroy the dignity of the Raj Bhawan, Dutta said that Rahul Gandhi is neither a government person nor a public personality till now, but just a party functionary of the Congress. �Whatsoever is his position within the Congress party, he is not entitled to stay in the Raj Bhawan. This step has flouted all the norms,� added Dutta.
Dutta had also raised objections on the large-scale use of government machinery for the huge public rally at Khanapara, which was addressed by Gandhi this afternoon.
�Government houses, specially the Raj Bhawan, have a definite protocol and it can host selected people only. Rahul Gandhi�s status within the Congress cannot be bigger than the Raj Bhawan protocol. Even the State guest house at Koinadhara, which is occupied by the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as his official residence all these years, could not have been given to Rahul Gandhi, even if it was free,� Dutta said.
Alleging that the Congress has developed a culture of blurring the line between the �party� and the �government�, he said that the Opposition parties have also hopelessly failed to point out these highly objectionable developments.
�The Opposition has totally become extinct in Assam. None of the political parties lodged any protest against such flouting of norms,� Dutta said.
