The Congress has decided not to field any sitting legislator in Assam in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said on Wednesday.
At least four Congress MLAs in Assam have applied for party tickets to contest the general elections.
The Congress has the highest number of ticket-seekers for Barpeta constituency, followed by Dhubri and Karimganj seats, where the party has a good chance of winning. There are 32 applicants for Congress ticket for Barpeta constituency, 25 for Dhubri and 11 for Karimganj seat.
Gogoi said the Congress has set a target to win at least 10 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
He claimed that an alliance between the BJP and the AGP in the polls was imminent despite the recent public bickering between the two parties over the citizenship (amendment) bill and that Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma was acting as an intermediary between the former allies.
He also claimed a tacit understanding between the BJP and the AIUDF to defeat the Congress.
The AGP had walked out of its alliance with the BJP in Assam last month when the latter decided to introduce the bill in the Lok Sabha. The AGP is opposing the bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, as it violates the Assam Accord.
AGP president Atul Bora had not given a direct reply when asked by reporters on February 14 whether the party would have any understanding with the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
“We have not yet decided whether we will have an alliance with any party for the Lok Sabha polls. Any decision in this regard will be taken only after discussing the matter in our party forum and taking the people of the state into confidence,” Bora had said.
Gogoi said an alliance between the AGP and the BJP would not affect the poll prospects of the Congress.
He lashed out at AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta for saying that the Congress and other political parties had put pressure on the AASU leadership to accept March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for detection and deportation of illegal migrants from the state when the Assam Accord was signed in 1985.
“How can anybody be forced to sign an accord?” Gogoi asked, while refuting Mahanta’s claim.
He alleged that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government at the Centre carried out “secret killings” in the state when Mahanta was the chief minister.
Gogoi said when he was the chief minister, then deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani had wanted to appoint K.P.S. Gill as the governor of Assam, allegedly in a bid to continue the “secret killings” even during the Congress rule in the state. “I opposed the proposal since Gill was an IPS officer of Assam and Meghalaya cadre, due to which the appointment finally did not happen,” Gogoi added.