Dissidence in State BJP; Poll prospects may be affected : CM

GUWAHATI, April 13: The prospects of the AGP-BJP alliance may suffer because of the weakness of the State unit leaders of the BJP to maintain discipline in the party, said Chief Minister and AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. Talking to The Assam Tribune here today, Mahanta said that if the dissidence and the splits in the BJP cannot be prevented by the leaders of the party, the alliance would be affected in the ensuing polls and the very purpose of the alliance would be defeated. "The State BJP leaders should immediately settle the differences among the party rank and file if they are interested in the development of Assam," he said. Mahanta said that the AGP forged the alliance with the BJP in the interest of development of the State and to defeat the Congress in the ensuing polls. He also pointed out that a friendly Government at the Centre is necessary for the development of a state like Assam. In this regard he cited the example of the United Front Governments headed by HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral and said that because of the friendly ties of the state government with the United Front, a number of development schemes were taken up in the State. Replying to a question on whether joining of Congress by the Jonai constituency MLA Pradan Baruah would affect the polls prospects of the AGP, Mahanta said that Baruah was in touch with the Congress for the past six months. He asserted that no senior leader of the AGP would join the Congress as reported in a section of the media. He also alleged that a section of the State unit leaders of the BJP as well as some Congress leaders launched misinformation campaigns about the decision to go for friendly contest with the BJP in ten Assembly constituencies. "Almost all the constituencies where we have decided to go for friendly contest like West Guwahati, Hajo and Palasbari, are the strongholds of the AGP and we are confident of victory even if we go for friendly contest. But some State BJP leaders and Congress men are launching a misinformation campaign that we would sacrifice these seats. I had talks with Sericulture Minister Ramendra Narayan Kalita, who represents the West Guwahati constituency and he told me that two State BJP leaders and one Congress leader rang him up to tell him that the AGP would sacrifice him," he added. Mahanta said that the seat sharing deal with the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) has been finalised and said that the poll pact with the ABSU would help the AGP in a number of constituencies. He also said that with the poll pact between the AGP and the ABSU, the division of votes of the indigenous people of Assam would be reduced to a great extent. Poll plank: Mahanta revealed that peace and development would be the main poll planks of the AGP in the ensuing polls. He pointed out that development activities in the State were affected due to activities of the insurgent groups. However, at the same time, he asserted that with the cooperation of the Union government, the state government managed to control insurgency to a great extent and "we would like to consolidate the gains of the last five years as peace is essential for the development of the State." When pointed out that the Government only managed to keep to situation under control but a permanent solution to the problem of insurgency is still a far cry, Mahanta said that the state government wanted negotiations with the insurgent outfits for a negotiated settlement of the problem of insurgency. He said that as the insurgents made it clear that they would be interested in talking only with the Union government, "we have made it clear that we have no objection if they talk directly with the Centre. Now it is up to the Union government to decide whether they would like to hold unconditional talks with the insurgents or not." Mahanta admitted that unemployment was a major issue for the State and said that the Government had to stop appointments because of the financial agreement signed with the Union government. He said that the Chief Minister's Self Employment scheme launched early this year evoked a positive response from the unemployed youths of the State but the implementation of the scheme was now affected because of the declaration of the polls. He said that if voted to power, the scheme would be fully implemented. He further revealed that efforts would be made to rope in private entrepreneurs to ease the unemployment problem. The AGP president denied allegations that the AGP has given up the issue of infiltration of foreigners and said that immediately after coming to power in 1996, the AGP-led Government held talks with the minority groups for an amicable solution of the problem by taking the minorities into confidence. He said that the Government is also fighting a legal battle on the issue for the detection and deportation of foreigners who came to Assam after 1971. Mahanta also said that the leaders of the AGP and the BJP would meet soon to chalk out a common minimum programme for the polls. Replying to a question on whether the breaking up of the alliance with the CPI and CPM would affect the poll prospects of the AGP, Mahanta said, "we had very good coordination with the Left parties for the last five years. The breaking up of the alliance may affect the AGP in the strongholds of the Left parties but that should be compensated by the alliance with the BJP." The AGP president also revealed that the meetings of the AGP election committee are on and the party is scheduled to announce the names of its candidates for the ensuing polls on April 16.