AGP authorises Mahanta on Saffron tie-up

GUWAHATI, March 8: Assam Chief Minister and president of the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has been authorised by the party to take the final decision regarding forging an alliance with the BJP for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state. Mahanta was delegated this authority at a high-level party meeting at his official residence yesterday, party sources said. After a threadbare discussion on the prospects of an alliance between the AGP and the BJP, a majority of the AGP office bearers expressed the view that the party should explore the possibility of such a tie-up to ensure its comeback to power. Party insiders said despite strong opposition by the state BJP unit to any such alliance, several top AGP leaders have been lobbying with the central leadership of the saffron party to ensure that the common votebank of the two parties was not divided in favour of the Congress. Sources said one of the AGP vice-presidents and state municipal administration minister Biraj Kumar Sharma expressed the apprehension that the party might have to give up some key constituencies if such an alliance materialised. Sharma was apparently worried about his own seat in which the BJP has a stronghold and in the event of an AGP-BJP alliance, the ruling party might have to concede this seat to the BJP. However, several other party leaders insisted that priority should be given to coming back to power and hence everyone should be ready to sacrifice his or her seat if the need arises. The AGP central executive committee which met last month also adopted a similar resolution, authorising Mahanta to take the final decision on a poll tie-up with other parties. Majority of the central executive committee members present in the meeting underlined the need for reaching an electoral understanding with parties having a common stand on issues like unabated influx and scrapping of the Illegal Migrants' (Determination by Tribunal) Act. Although Mahanta and other senior AGP leaders have been maintaining that the party's present alliance with the two Left parties would continue, the constituents of the ruling alliance have not held a single meeting so far. On the other hand, the AGP has been holding parleys with partners of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Bodo political groups and the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) to explore the possibilities of forging an electoral alliance with them. The AGP's tilt towards the BJP has worried the two Left parties. State CPM secretary Hemen Das said his party would hold a meeting with the state CPI leaders tomorrow to discuss the emerging political situation. Das said being an independent party, the AGP can hold parleys with any parties or groups it likes. "But our party will remain committed to its anti-Congress and anti-BJP stand. If the AGP decides to go along with the BJP, then the CPM will go alone," he added. The state CPI unit had earlier dropped a hint that the party may even consider forging a tie-up with the Congress to check the BJP if the AGP decided to go ahead with the saffron party.