GUWAHATI:The regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on Monday decided to snap its ties with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam and is all set to walk out of Sarbananad Sonowal-led coalition government in the state.
The AGP president and a state’s Agriculture Minister, Atul Borah announced the party’s decision on Monday immediately after his meeting with the Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
Senior AGP leader and former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta while addressing a protest meeting against the Citizenship Bill here on Monday stated that the regional party was all set to walk out of the alliance with the BJP.
Mahanta was speaking at an agitation programme in Guwahati organised by Forum against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. The Forum observed the day on Monday as “Dhikkar Diwas” (Condemnation Day).
“I am not the authorized man to announce that decision. The party has taken a decision and party’s concerned office bearers can announce the decision. Party’s president, general secretary and other office bearers can only announce that decision,” said Mahanta when asked about when the party will snap the ties with BJP.
The AGP and the BJP forged alliance in the state just before Assembly election of 2016 with the sole objective to send Congress out of power by preventing division of anti-Congress votes between the two parties.
There are three AGP minister in Sarbananda Sonowal-headed coalition government led by the BJP in the state.
The has been maintaing that it will snap ties with the BJP if the saffron party led government in the Centre tables the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 which has faced strong opposition in Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, in the Parliament.
The AGP has opposed the Bill on the ground that it proposes to grant citizenship on the basis of religion, which it says, against the principle of the Constitution of India.
