[Assam] Sonia ‘relief’ for Dhemaji (The Telegraph,07.08.2007)

[Buljit Buragohain]

        Sonia ‘relief’ for Dhemaji - Assembly drowns in chaos 
    RIPUNJOY DAS                 Two Mising women sail through a flooded neighbourhood in Lakhimpur district on Monday in search of drinking water. Picture by Eastern Projections  Dhemaji, Aug. 6: After the rains, a shower of leaders.
  Sonia Gandhi and a bevy of political powerhouses — from Lalu Prasad and Shivraj Patil to Ram Vilas Paswan and Digvijay Singh — will arrive tomorrow armed with words of comfort and promises to wash away the woes of this flood-ravaged district.
  Assam’s showcase for monsoon misery may have heard it all before, but the mood in Dhemaji today was upbeat for the first time in a month. 
  The focus of the administration shifted from flood relief to arrangements for the VIP delegation at Dhemaji Circuit House, never mind the fact that Sonia and the rest of the delegation will be here only for an hour. The Congress president and UPA chairperson is scheduled to arrive around 10am.
  “She will be interacting with flood victims. She is very keen to get a first-hand account of what Dhemaji has gone through,” a source in the PCC said. 
  “The district administration has taken the bold step of not allowing parallel relief operations by NGOs and associations with which politicians, including some MLAs from the ruling party, are involved. That has minimised anomalies,” Nabin Payeng, a resident of the district, said.
  Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will brief Sonia after she completes an aerial survey and make a presentation on the proposed rehabilitation of families who lost all their belongings in the floods. 
  In Guwahati, the Assembly drowned in pandemonium on the first day of the August session because the Speaker refused to suspend Question Hour for a discussion on anomalies in flood relief operations, adds a staff reporter.
  Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai adjourned the House four times and “withdrew” an AGP member for unruly behaviour. 
  As soon as the House assembled for the day, placard-wielding Opposition members shouted slogans demanding suspension of Question Hour to discuss the alleged anomalies in distribution of relief materials in all flood-affected districts. 
  The Speaker turned down the demand and said discussions could be initiated only after Question Hour. He adjourned the House for 10 minutes when the AGP, BJP and AUDF members almost came to blows with ruling party legislators.
  The hubbub continued when the House reassembled. The Congress objected to the manner in which AGP member Liaqat Ali rushed at revenue minister Bhumidhar Barman. They said the minister would have been manhandled had some colleagues not stopped Ali. The Speaker barred Ali from the Assembly for the day. 
(The Telegraph,07.08.2007)


       
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