GUWAHATI: A day after Asom Gana Parishad had announced its decision to sever ties with the ruling BJP over differences regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, former Assam chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said the saffron party should now “morally” dissolve the government and seek a fresh mandate.
Addressing reporters here on Tuesday, Mahanta said, “Morally, BJP should seek a fresh mandate and contest the elections again in Assam as the government was formed (in 2016) on the basis of a pre-poll alliance, and now that its ally, AGP has withdrawn support to it.”
He said the people of Assam had voted for the coalition (AGP-BJP-BPF) in the 2016 Assembly elections and not BJP alone.
The senior AGP leader, while not mincing any words, said “BJP had adopted policies which were undemocratic and against the interests of Assam, and despite being an ally, AGP had always opposed such policies.”
Mahanta also justified the regional party’s tie-up before the 2016 Assembly elections as a strategy to defeat the Congress, which was at the helm prior to it for three terms.
“At that time, AGP had decided to tie up with BJP with a clear objective to defeat Congress. The party had thought that was the right move at that time,” he said.
The senior AGP leader maintained that the regional party has always opposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as the Bill would be detrimental to Assam and the interests of the indigenous people of the state.
“Besides, can the BJP government for a fact point how many persecuted Hindus, Sikhs Buddhists from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan have entered the country so far. If they cannot what right do they have to bring the Bill,” Mahanta asserted.
