3 AGP ministers resign

GUWAHATI: Three ministers of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on Wednesday tendered their resignations to Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 after the party had decided to quit the alliance with the ruling BJP in the state.
“We have fought against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 till the last moment. But after meeting Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh on Monday we came to know that the BJP was determined to get the Bill passed. We met the Chief Minister here today (Wednesday) and tendered our resignations,” said AGP president Atul Bora after coming out of the Assam Chief Minister’s Office at Dispur on Wednesday .
“We have decided to take the side of people of Assam. We had entered into an alliance with the BJP, BPF and some other parties ahead of 2016 polls and tried our best to serve the people of Assam.
“Ours is a party of the people. There have been protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill across the state and the AGP has no other option but to take the side of the people in such a testing time,” the AGP president said.
The three AGP ministers who have quit the Council of Ministers headed by Sarbananda Sonowal are: Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Phani Bhusan Chowdhury.