New Delhi: A senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Vincent H Pala told ETV Bharat on Thursday that the absence of Tarun Gogoi was critical in the party's defeat in the last Assam Assembly election.
"Had Tarun Gogoi been there, the party's result in the Assam election would have been different," said Pala in New Delhi.
Pala was a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC's) fact-finding committee. Pala and four other senior leaders of the party including Ashok Chavan, Salman Khurshid, Manish Tiwari and Jothi Mani were entrusted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to evaluate the party's performance in the last Assembly election that took place in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry.
The five-member committee had recently submitted its report to Sonia Gandhi.
"We have submitted our report. What we found is that party's grass root level should be strengthened. We need to reach to the rural population," said Pala and added, "state-level committee of the party also needs a total revamp."
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A few months before the State election, veteran Congress leader Gogoi died due to post Covid complications.
It may be mentioned here that Congress along with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Left parties formed a grand alliance in the last election against BJP. However, BJP and its allies including AGP and UPPL easily formed the government in the state.
Referring to the present pandemic situation in the Northeast especially in Meghalaya, Pala alleged that the National People's Party (NPP) led Meghalaya government has miserably failed to manage the situation.
"Covid situation in Meghalaya is very pathetic. There are increasing number of daily cases in Meghalaya. The percentage of vaccination is also very poor," said Pala.
He said that there is a lack of coordination between the public and private sectors in their fight against Covid-19.
Worried over the spike in Covid cases in the Northeast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently reviewed the situation with all Chief Ministers of Northeastern states.
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"In the first wave, situation was under control. But after the last Assembly election, the Covid situation turned worse. People refused adhering to Covid protocol," he said.
Pala said that there is a lack of people's faith in the government. "There was a lack of awareness campaign. People especially in rural areas are not aware of the pandemic. The number of vaccinations is also very low in the rural areas," Pala informed.
He said that anticipating a possible third wave of the pandemic, the "Government should speed up the anti-Covid activities."
