Assam political scene still hazy

GUWAHATI, March 24: With Assembly polls in Assam round the corner a clear picture of the political alignments is yet to emerge and the major parties are still holding discussions to come into understanding with smaller groups. Mentionably, West Bengal, the process of announcement of the names of the candidates is on and the ruling Left Front has already announced the names of its candidates, while in Assam, the partners of the ruling alliance are not sure whether to stick together or not. The Communist Party of India (CPI) is yet to announce its decision on whether to stay with the present alliance as some differences have cropped up between the CPI and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Senior CPI leader Promode Gogoi said that defeating the BJP and its allies would be the main aim of the CPI in the ensuing polls. The CPI state executive is meeting later this evening, while, a meeting of the ruling alliance partners is scheduled for tomorrow. According to reports available, some district units of the AGP are opposed to the idea of continuing the alliance with the CPI and a clear picture in this regard is likely to emerge after the meeting of the alliance partners tomorrow. The stand of the other Left party in the alliance - CPM - is also not clear. The AGP is reportedly trying to rope in the United Minorities Front (UMF) into the alliance to win over the minorities, but the CPM is opposed to the idea. The CPM may walk out of the alliance if the UMF is roped in. The AGP is also trying to get the support of the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and one faction of the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC). If the AGP manages to get the support of the ABSU, it would give a major boost to the electoral prospects of the party as the ABSU has considerable hold in the Bodo dominated areas of the State. However, the ABSU is yet to make its stand clear in this regard. Immediately after being elected as the president of the ABSU last month, Rabiram Narzary told newsmen that the ABSU had no objection in extending support to any party which supported its cause. Though the decision of the BJP to come into an electoral understanding with the AGP has laid to rest all the speculations in this regard, it is still not clear which party approached the other for an alliance. The AGP president, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, claimed that the AGP never approached the BJP, while the BJP State unit president Rajen Gohain maintained that Mahanta had approached the Prime Minister with the proposal for an alliance. The main Opposition party - Congress - is likely to get the support of the Jamiat Ulema, and the APCC president Tarun Gogoi admitted that the Jamiat has sought 35 seats. Apart from the support of the Jamiat, the Congress is likely to fight the polls alone but the APCC president did not rule out the possibility of local level understanding in some constituencies. The BJP may come into an electoral understanding with the Trinamul Gana Parishad (TGP) headed by former State Assembly Speaker Pulakesh Baruah and former PWD Minister Atul Bora, but a formal announcement in this regard is awaited. The BJP also held meetings with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) with the bid to get the support of the organisation in the polls but the party failed to receive any commitment from the AASU. Till now, only the partners of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) headed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has made their stand clear regarding alignments, and it is expected that the other major political parties would make formal announcement regarding alliance with others within a week or so.