Hard Times: Mahanta has little to cheer

It has not been a smooth sailing for Mahanta. In fact, exactly two years ago when he was sworn-in, the State was burning. About 150 innocent Santhal and Bodo tribals had already lost their lives in ethnic violence in Kokrajhar district, while another 2.4 lakh were rendered homeless.

At least four top officers of the State Government, including Chief Secretary Arunoday Bhattacharyya, police chief Ranju Das, DIG Ashim Roy andsecretary, general administration Niranjan Ghosh had fled the State without handing over charge to their juniors.

They were all so close to Mahanta’s predecessor Hiteswar Saikia (Cong) that they feared trouble with the change of guard at Dispur.

The militants raised their heads once again, gunning down an IPS officer in Tinsukia and a journalist in Guwahati, while the State was facing a severe financial crisis.

Mahanta, who had promised during elections that he would send the Army back to the barracks once voted to power, was compelled to launch a more vigorous Army offensive against the rebel groups, while an enraged United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) even made a bomb attack on his life.

"Insurgency has gradually come under control, but several other problems are still posing hurdles," said Mahanta, hinting at the financial situation.

A regular defaulter with the Reserve Bank, Mahanta’s Government had only last month announced a massive pay hike for State employees. The latest pay hike willcost the Government, which has a debt of Rs 6,100 crores, at least Rs 700 crores extra every year.

The political scenario too has been far from satisfactory for this man who holds the record for being the youngest Chief Minister of the country. Two of the AGP’s allies — the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) — pulled out complaining of its "anti-tribal" policies. The row over Tata’s help to the ULFA also threatened his Government’s survival.

The multi-crore Letters of Credit (LOC) scandal in the State Veterinary Department had almost sent him to jail, had the CBI not failed to frame strong evidences against Mahanta, which prompted Governor SK Sinha to turn down the Central Bureau of Investigation’s plea to grant sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister.

Mahanta, who has learnt the art of befriending successive regimes at the Centre, has proved to be a survivor.

Scribes jailed

The Assam Assembly Speaker Ganesh Kutum today sent senior journalist andAjir Batori editor Dhirendra Nath Chakravarty, its executive editor Atanu Bhuyan and the newspaper’s publisher and printer to one day’s imprisonment for breach of privilege of the members of the House.

The four were accused of breach of privilege of the House by ten AGP MLAs led by Dilip Kumar Saikia, for publishing a news item in the newspaper with the headline "Mahanta, you too have at last lost your memory-power," on March 21.