The infighting in the state Congress took an ugly turn on Wednesday when some Cabinet ministers were accused of threatening and abusing governor J.P. Rajkhowa in Raj Bhavan. The situation turned so violent that security personnel had to escort the governor to safety.
The problem started when chief minister Nabam Tuki, accompanied by his eight ministers, visited Raj Bhavan late on Tuesday and asked the governor to recall his December 9 order preponing the Winter Session from January 14 to December 16.
Mr Rajkhowa was forced to prepone the Assembly session following the impeachment motion of the Opposition parties seeking removal of Speaker Nabam Rebia.
The political crisis within the ruling Congress has been escalating for past six months and at least 11 Congress legislators have asked for a change in the leadership.
Though the AICC refused to change the chief minister, the legislators have been agitating against Mr Tuki since then.
Meanwhile, a Raj Bhavan press release on Tuesday night claimed that some ministers were about to “physically restrain” the governor.
“Not willing to listen to the governor, questioning his authority and judgment, led by education minister Tapang Taloh and transport minister Jomde Kena, (they) used unparliamentary words and gestured in a very animated and threatening manner. They also virtually threatened to disturb the Assembly session starting from Wednesday. They were about to physically restrain the governor when his PSOs swung into action and escorted him to safety,” said the Raj Bhavan press release.
