PM Manmohan Singh should complete term in office: Tarun Gogoi

GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should complete his term and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi should be projected as the next leader of the party, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.

"There is a lot of speculation going on in the media about whether the Prime Minister will complete his term or not. It is my personal opinion that he should complete his term," Gogoi said in an interaction with mediapersons at his residence here.

"Rahul Gandhi can be projected as the next leader of the party after that," he added.

The chief minister said the state government would introduce the Lokpal in the state by February and it would be in the same lines as in the Centre.

"Earlier it was only recommendatory with government approval being required for an inquiry but now it can be initiated for any officer upto the level of the Chief Secretary," he said.

Gogoi, however, pointed out that to end corruption, the system has to change "otherwise no Lokpal or any other law can work".

The state government was planning to give insurance cover to all citizens with the Centre and state government making equal shares in the scheme, he said.

The government was also trying to introduce the local time which is an hour ahead of the Indian Standard Time (IST) and is prevalent in the tea gardens of the state.

"The introduction of the local time would lead to energy saving and more work can be done," he said.