Facing the heat since its reunion with BJP, regional party of Assam Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), is now joined by All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and claims to be committed towards the cause of solving the critical issue of illegal migrants in the state but, for that, the party stated, they need the help of the government in the Centre, say reports.
The party chief mentioned that AGP was not able to expel illegal migrants despite being in power for two terms and that it is the Centre that held the power to implement the Assam Accord.
Calling the Congress a ‘life-long enemy’, AGP chief maintained that the decision to go back to coalition with BJP was taken ‘without sacrificing regional interests’.
“If we don’t come to an agreement with like-minded parties at the Centre, it won’t be possible for us to make Assam free of illegal migrants,” noted party President Atul Bora in a statement also mentioning that they need to send strong leaders to Lok Sabha for the same cause.
Former AASU vice-president Moni Madhab Mahanta joined the regional party yesterday. Commenting on the development, Bora said, “Party workers must strive hard to register a victory for the AGP-BJP-BPF coalition, setting aside all differences.”
“Of the three seats we are going to contest, we have shown our mettle in two – Kaliabor and Barpeta,” said Bora, talking about the constituencies the regional party is going to contest from in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The third constituency being Dhubri for which the party has claimed to be using the right strategy to gain victory at.
As per speculations, Mahanta may field from Kaliabor against former chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s son, Gaurav Gogoi of Congress.
However, according to some party insiders, Mahanta’s brother and minister in the state cabinet, Keshab Mahanta is also being considered for the seat.
It may be noted that Keshab has represented Kaliabor in Lok Sabha in the past defeating Tarun Gogoi in 1996, according to the report.
