By IANS,
New Delhi : Assam Governor Syed Sibtey Razi Tuesday said he has not been asked to quit following corruption charges against two of his former aides in Jharkhand, and asserted that he would complete his full term.
However, highly placed government officials maintained there was pressure on Razi to demit office following complaints that his aides and staff allegedly made money for transfers and postings when he was governor of Jharkhand.
“The allegations are false. I will complete my full term as governor of Assam,” he told reporters here, adding “I have nothing to do with all this.”
Razi was sworn in as Assam governor July 27 and his term ends in October.
He has been apparently camping in Delhi to get a hearing from the Congress party high command following the allegations of corruption against his former aides, sources said. He was a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) denied reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had personally met with Razi last week and asked him to quit after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the houses of two of Razi’s former aides last month. Both are under the scanner for having amassed assets allegedly disproportionate to their income.
The investigation agency is reported to have unearthed evidence that his aides allegedly took bribes for the transfers and postings of officials and appropriated funds meant for the National Games to be held in Jharkhand.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who is in the capital, was non-committal over the controversy surrounding Razi and said he has “no complaints” against him.
“How can I say anything about the charges? How can I react to newspaper reports? There is no complaint against him in Assam,” Gogoi told reporters.
“I have made it clear that I have no complaints against the governor. I don’t know about the charges. I have never made any complaint against him,” Gogoi told reporters here.
Close aides to Gogoi added that Razi had hardly spent time in Guwahati after taking over as governor and had moved to the capital ostensibly on health grounds.
Asked if he was happy with the functioning of Razi, Gogoi said: “Today he is my governor. Why should I be unhappy with him?”
This is not the first time Razi has courted controversy. In March 2005, as Jharkhand governor Razi had invited Shibu Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to form a government instead of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that had staked claim with half the legislators supporting it.
He was then widely criticised for being partisan and was summoned by the president to New Delhi for an explanation. Subsequently, an NDA government led by Arjun Munda was sworn in into office and the government went on to prove its majority on the floor of the house.