Guwahati, Feb. 27: A stunned Assam today questioned the wisdom of Bhupen Hazarika?s decision to join the BJP. The influential All Assam Students? Union (AASU) even said the legendary maestro has put the state to ?shame? by joining hands with a party which had insulted him not too long ago.
?We had stood by Bhupenda when the BJP-led NDA government insulted him and the entire state by cancelling his nomination to the Rajya Sabha at the last moment. But by joining the same party, he has put us to shame,? AASU president Prabin Boro said. Boro said as a citizen of a democratic country, Hazarika was free to choose any party of his liking ?but we were hoping that he would support the cause of regionalism and not of a party which has little concern for the region?.
The AASU had organised a mammoth reception for Hazarika during his first visit to the state on September 4 after the Rajya Sabha fiasco and had even started a campaign for his election to the Upper House as a ?torchbearer of regionalism?.
Hazarika himself had announced during the reception that he does not want to become the ?football of politics?.
The reaction from political circles ? barring the BJP, of course ? was one of indifference. But there was no gainsaying the fact that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), in particular, would be sorely disappointed as it had tried to cash in on the people?s sentiments after the Rajya Sabha drama and announced its intention to nominate Hazarika to Parliament.
PCC chief Paban Singh Ghatowar and AGP president Brindaban Goswami were unanimous that it would not make much difference to the BJP?s prospects.
?For the Congress, it has no implication. Politically, he was always against our party,? Ghatowar said, adding, ?No doubt he is a great artiste but politics is a different ball-game and he has already tasted it through his earlier electoral debacle.?
Goswami also expressed similar views, saying that in the elections it is the ideology of the party that would matter, not an individual. ?Unless the BJP learns to respect the aspirations of the Assamese people, the voters would not accept him, no matter whom they rope in.?
Reacting to Bhupen Hazarika?s joining the BJP, Pabitra Kumar Deka, film critic and close associate of the Dadasaheb Phalke award winner, said, ?I am bewildered. I have not understood this decision.?
Expressing astonishment, singer and music director Khagen Mahanta said, ?I am puzzled as to why Hazarika is identifying himself with a political party in his twilight years when he has kept his distance from political parties all through his life. No great musician of Hazarika?s stature has joined any political party till date, though several actors and singers have jumped into the fray of late.?
However, close friend and filmmaker Padum Baruah said he was happy to hear that Hazarika had joined the BJP. ?The party has been administering the country well and I am happy with Hazarika?s decision,? said Baruah.