AGP-BJP battles dissension

GUWAHATI, April 13: The Asom Gana Parishad and the BJP are working overtime to stem dissidence in their ranks. Three BJP trouble-shooters arrived here from New Delhi today to pacify party workers opposed to the "marriage of convenience" with the AGP. Chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, too, launched a damage-control exercise. But it failed to stop some prominent AGP legislators, including ministers, from joining the band of dissidents. Some of these AGP members even threatened to defect to the Congress. The cause of the rift in the AGP is the seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP, particularly the decision to go in for "friendly contests" in certain constituencies. These seats are held by AGP members. The revolt has already cost Pradan Barua, the AGP legislator from Jonai, his party membership. The AGP leadership expelled Barua yesterday on charges of alleged anti-party activities. Sources said Barua met the Congress' election observer for Assam, Kamal Nath, in New Delhi yesterday and offered to join the party. Barua's home constituency is one of the 10 where there will be "friendly contests" between AGP and BJP candidates. However, state BJP leaders deny that these 10 seats include the 44 their party will contest. Undeterred by Barua's expulsion, two AGP ministers - Ramendra Narayan Kalita and Kamala Kalita - today jointly convened a meeting of 5,000-odd party activists in the Chandraprova High School at Azara under Guwahati West constituency. A 23-member panel comprising representatives of various party committees in Guwahati West constituency was constituted to pressure Mahanta into abandoning the idea of "friendly contests". A section of AGP activists who attended the meeting said Ramendra Narayan Kalita should contest the elections as a Congress candidate if Mahanta does not review the seat-sharing arrangement. Another group said he should file his nomination as an Independent candidate. Sources said the Congress had already offered Ramendra Narayan Kalita a ticket to contest the polls from his home constituency. In another development, dissident BJP leader Hiranya Bhattacharyya today floated a new party, christened the "Assam BJP". He said the party would field candidates in 60 constituencies. Bhattacharyya released the first list of 13 candidates and said he would contest the Nalbari seat. However, he promised to back out "if there is a better candidate than me". The dissident leader said he formed the "Assam BJP" in protest against the central BJP leadership's "total surrender to the AGP". He said Mahanta was dictating terms to the BJP leadership. However, Bhattacharyya promised to return to the BJP if it called off its alliance with the AGP. Sunil Shastri, the BJP observer for Assam, downplayed the "split". He said Bhattacharyya's departure would not affect the party. But the BJP's concern over the development was apparent when Shastri, Narendra Modi and V. Satish went into a huddle at a city hotel to discuss the issue. State BJP president Rajen Gohain and Union water resources minister Bijoya Chakraborty also attended the meeting.