GUWAHATI: Senior Congressman and former Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi has for the second time in two weeks taken digs at the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party and the Asom Gana Parishad for their “ambiguity” over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and their “support” to BJP and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
“Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad K Sangma’s stand on CAB is not clear (despite the Meghalaya Cabinet stand against the Bill last year) because his party continues to be under NEDA and continues to support the BJP-led NDA government, which wants to bring the contentious legislation back as was announced by its leader, Amit Shah,” Gogoi told a media conference here on Monday.
Accusing NPP of a “secret understanding” with BJP, the senior Congress leader said, “Conrad Sangma who was given a hero’s welcome here after his stand against CAB (in Delhi), has taken a U-turn now by being with an alliance led by a party that is hell bent on tabling the Bill again. So there must be a secret alliance in this regard which again gives one the impression that NPP has no principle.”
Gogoi, who has time and again accused NPP of being the “B” team of BJP, asserted that Congress will always be firm on its opposition to CAB, whether it was in power or not.
“AGP by allying with BJP again before the Lok Sabha elections has only shown how low it has stooped as a regional party in Assam. It has also given the people the impression that it was against them and power hungry. This trend is in sharp contrast to the rest of India where regional parties have grown strong by adhering to their ideologies,” the former chief minister said.