An AGP worker miffed with the party leadership on Thursday locked up the main gate of the party’s head office at Ambari here.
Montu Dutta, an AGP worker from Rajabari in Jorhat, said he took the step as a mark of protest against the “surreptitious” discussion initiated by a few party leaders to forge a fresh alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls.
A meeting of the party’s women’s wing was going on at the party office when Dutta locked the gate.
Dutta said the AGP had walked out of the alliance with the BJP protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and even publicly protested against the bill.
“When the top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, has made it clear they will introduce the bill in Parliament afresh if they retain power, there cannot be any justification for tying up with the BJP again,” he added.
“It is a people’s party and a handful of leaders cannot decide its fate. If we go with the BJP, our struggle against the bill will lose its relevance,” Dutta said. After about half-an-hour, some party workers broke the lock.
BJP sets seat target: Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, while addressing a meeting of the party’s elected representatives of the municipal corporations, municipal boards and town committees here on Thursday, said the party have an alliance with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) for the polls but has “no information” about any talks between the AGP and the BJP’s central leadership on poll alliance. “Our target is to win all the 14 seats, but we along with our ally BPF will have to ensure our victory in at least 11 seats,” Dass said.
Dass then asked those in the audience who do not want an alliance with the AGP to raise their hands. Everyone instantly raised their hands, some even saying the voters will not like if the BJP again ties up with AGP.
On the other hand, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Pradyut Bora slammed the AGP’s alleged move to join hands with BJP. “It will destroy AGP’s image in front of their supporters and the people of Assam. It is a regional political party and people have much faith on them.”
Additional reporting by Abinash Kalita in Guwahati