Uncertainty over AGP-BJP pact on

NEW DELHI, April 7: A cloud of uncertainty hung over the AGP-BJP alliance with the two parties locked in a standoff over the seat-sharing arrangement. the two sides were again expected to meet late in the night to break the impasse. The breakdown in the seat-sharing negotiations between the BJP and the AGP this afternoon posed a threat to the alliance, forcing the leadership of both the parties to intervene to save the situation. An uneasy calm prevailed in the BJP camp ever since it became clear that the AGP was willing to concede only 29 seats to the BJP way below their demand of 55 seats. According to highly-placed sources in the BJP, negotiations were deadlocked in the wake of the reluctance of the AGP to sacrifice 18 seats held by sitting MLAs. Later, another round held during the day saw the AGP conceding two additional seats to BJP but an adamant State BJP leadership struck to its demands leading to the impasse. In a day of fast development, the BJP state unit members led by State unit president, Rajen Gohain, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Bijoya Chakraborty and former Union Minister, Kabindra Purkayastha rushed to the Union Home Minister LK Advani to brief him about the developments. The BJP State unit members, sources said, made it clear to the Union Home Minister that they were not prepared to forge an alliance with the AGP under such humiliating conditions. When the gravity of the situation dawned on Advani he promptly directed the Union Minister of State for Water Resources to contact the Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in Guwahati and brief him about the impasse. Sources said when Chakraborty contacted him, even the Chief Minister expressed his inability to sacrifice so many seats held by the sitting MLAs apparently fearing reprisal from his party-men. The Chief Minister is now expected to fly down to Delhi to resolve the deadlock in consultation with the top leadership of the BJP. But senior BJP leader from the State claimed that the Union Home Minister has realised the seriousness of the situation and the delicate position of the State unit leadership and has assured them that the BJP Central leadership would not force an alliance without 'respectability'. Following the meeting with the Home Ministry, the BJP State unit requested the BJP general secretary in charge for Northeast, Sunil Shastri to get in touch with the AGP leadership to convey their position regarding the additional seats. "The ball is now in the AGP's court and we are waiting for them to respond," said a BJP State executive member. Shastri who is coordinating the negotiations towards late in the evening told The Assam Tribune that another round has been convened to hammer out a solution and clinch the alliance. On the other hand, a senior AGP leader when contacted said sitting MLAs hold no question of conceding any seats. "We have made our position clear and it is not up to the BJP to take a decision," he asserted. Significantly majority of the AGP leaders participating in the talks with the BJP were tight-lipped about the developments. AGP spokesman and former Union Minister, Biren Baishya said they hoped to clinch the alliance soon and differences have been narrowed down. "Ninety-five per cent of our problems have been resolved," he claimed. However, the BJP members portrayed a different picture and a senior member involved in the parleys said even the seats allotted to the BJP mainly were those which they had no hope of winning. Sources declining to identify the 18 seats they wanted from the AGP said the concerned seats were those, which they felt were crucial for the BJP's poll performance in the State. "There is no question of us striking a deal without those 18 additional seats," he said. Meanwhile, Shastri said if the alliance worked out they would try to have BJP national president, Jana Krishnamurthi and Assam Chief Minister jointly announce it at a press conference. When asked about the impasse, he tried to play it down saying that these kinds of differences are normal in seat-sharing negotiations. He expressed his confidence in managing to break the deadlock. Shastri's confidence notwithstanding, there is no denying the fact that the BJP State leadership is on a sticky wicket. The reports of growing restlessness among their party-men in the State have further complicated matters for them. Reacting to the developments, the State unit president said that he would like to appeal to his party men in Assam to have patience and not to resort to violence. "I would like to once again assure our party-men that we will not sell the party for the sake of an alliance," he added. "We are working for the party and have come forward to forge an alliance according to the wishes of the High Command and to defeat the Congress in Assam," he added.