Nurul, Kalita to remain with AGP

GUWAHATI, April 15: Setting all speculations at rest, State's Cooperation Minister Nurul Hussain and Sericulture Minister Ramendra Narayan Kalita today categorically said that they would remain with the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) come what may. The names of Hussain and Kalita were in the news for the last about four days for their reported moves at currying favour with the Congress leaders subsequent to the AGP's forging an electoral alliance hurriedly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). AGP MLA from Jonai Pradan Barua's joining Congress on April 12, in the aftermath of the AGP-BJP alliance, gave a semblance of credence to the reports of Hussain and Kalita's "overtures" with the Congress. Pradan Barua left the AGP resenting the party leadership's leaving his constituency Jonai for "friendly contest" with the BJP. The constituencies represented by Hussain and Kalita - i.e. Hajo and Guwahati (West), are also earmarked as the constituencies open for the BJP for friendly contest. However, talking to The Assam Tribune this afternoon, Hussain and Kalita set at naught all reports of their joining Congress. "There were rather feelers from the Congress to win us over after the alliance with the BJP was forged. We firmly turned down the Congress proposals, " they said. The Congress then started a two-pronged malicious campaign to tarnish our individual as well as the AGP's image and thus to confuse the AGP rank and file with reports of our joining the Congress like Pradan Barua, they said. "There was initially a confusion among the AGP rank and file over the issue of friendly contest, despite our experimenting it during the 1996 election with the CPI and the CPM in several constituencies like Jamunamukh, Titabor and Bihapuria. Our candidates from most of these constituencies were returned that time, they added. The confusion this time, they said, was because of the statement made by BJP's Bijoya Chakravorty on her arrival in the city. Chakravorty tried to give the impression that the constituencies earmarked for friendly contest were infact allotted to the BJP though the agreement on electoral alliance had it mentioned clearly that these constituencies will remain open for both the AGP and the BJP to field their candidates of choice independently, Hussain and Kalita said. Faced with such a situation, Kalita said, the AGP leaders and workers in West Guwahati held a meeting day before yesterday. They asked me to talk directly with Chief Minister and AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on the issue and clear the haze and to plead for a provision for fielding only the AGP candidate in the constituency if the situation so demands, Kalita said. But in any case, I am winning from Guwahati (West) and the question of my leaving the AGP for the Congress does not arise, Kalita said emphatically. Similarly, Hussain also demonstrated his confidence to win from the Hajo constituency on an AGP ticket in the ensuing election to the State Assembly. In the 1996 election Hussain could win from the constituency with the highest margin of about 34,000 votes. In may be mentioned here that the AGP and the BJP agreed on April 9 to field their candidates in 82 and 34 constituencies respetitively, keeping ten constituencies open for friendly contest. The State has 126 Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs). Of the 82 seats thus allotted to the AGP, the regional party is under compulsion to share at least 13 seats with its other allies, -ABSU-BPAC and the Holiram Terang faction of the ASDC.