Guwahati: In the wake of starling victory of Grand Alliance in Bihar polls, Assam chief minister and Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi on Monday mooted formation of ‘grand understanding’ among secular political parties in Assam before polls.
Gogoi asserted that the same fate was awaiting the BJP in Assam polls next year if all the secular forces could forge a ‘grand understanding’ before Assam election.
Gogoi said Bihar election heroes Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar would campaign for Congress in Assam in next year’s Assembly polls.
“The Congress would try uniting all secular forces in the state to keep ‘communal’ BJP at bay in next year’s state Assembly elections. We are ready to work with all secular forces, like the Left parties, AGP, AIUDF, to ensure defeat of the BJP, ” Gogoi said
He, however, clarified, “There will be no pre-poll grand alliance in Assam, there can be ‘grand understand’. The Congress will contest the Assam polls solo but we will work with secular parties to defeat communal forces” he said.
Gogoi termed BJP’s Bihar drubbing a rejection of PM Narendra Modi’s ‘pro-rich policies’ by the general populace and dared the prime minister to come out of control of RSS and its chief Mohan Bhagat.
He said failure of Narendra Modi to translate into reality what he had promised to the people before last year’s Lok Sabha elections had cost the party dearly in Bihar.
Assam state BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharrya stated that lessons would be learnt from Bihar polls even as non-BJP parties including Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Krishak Mukti Assam have called for formation of anti-BJP grand alliance in Assam too.
The AGP president Atul Bora has called for formation of Grand Alliance in Assam for defeating the BJP while newly-formed Krishak Mukti Assam has echoed the same stand while congratulating the people of Bihar for defeating communal forces in the polls.
