By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : AGP-BJP-BPF to fight LS Poll together On other hand There is discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) cadre, and the decision to turn allies could lead to some members turning rebels, as per reports. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on Tuesday midnight formally announced an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam for the coming Lok Sabha election.

This announcement was made after marathon talks between BJP senior leaders and the AGP leadership. Though the two parties have agreed on a tie up, they face several problems to deal with as many grass root leaders and members of both the parties protested against it and demanding that they don’t take the alliance easily. These rumblings were the reason for the delay in announcing the alliance that was unofficially agreed upon on Monday. The rumblings in the BJP and AGP are likely to continue, which could lead to some members turning into rebel candidates. This has caused some heartburn among BJP workers in the region.

“This alliance was needed in order to wipe out the Congress in Assam” BJP National general secretary Ram Madhav said. “The people have suffered enough under the Congress in Assam and also the rest of the country and now its time for a change. We will resolve issues.” Assam BJP leadership assured the people. AGP(3)+BJP(10)+BPF(!) AGP: Koliabor, Barpeta, Dhubri/Guwahati Mahanta opposes, Mizoram Governor offered NDA eyes 12 of 14 seats The AGP and BJP have begun their second innings as their divorce survived, barely 63 days as both parties removed all the hurdles to solemnize the marriage again keeping the larger picture in sight. According to the late night decision, the BJP will content in 10 seats, AGP in three and the BPF will 1 seats. The Alliance is now targeting 12 of the total 14 seats, which will be gain of 5 seats from the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The majority of the AGP leaders feel that an alliance with the BJP was the sole change of keeping the party afloat, while grass root level supporters fell that AGP had surrendered.

The AGP has been offered Koliabor, Barpeta and Dhubri while AGP wants either of Guwahati/Mangaldoi or a Rajya Sabha Seat in the next June election. The final decision was taken close to midnight at Hotel Radission Blu where the AGP and BJP met in the presence of Ram Madhab who sealed the deal and announced before the waiting media.

The lone opposition within AGp came from the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, but his opposition was also more strategic and mostly for public consumption as there talks of rehabilitating him as the Governor of Mizoram. In Koliabor the AGP will field Moni Madhab Mahanta and in Barpeta Bhupen Ray or Kumar Deepak Das will contest. The AGP is not so keen on Dhurbi but they are keen in either Mangaldoi or Guwahati. The fate of the last seat will be announced by another week. Meanwhile, all the three AGP ministers who had resigned have returned to the ministry. The AGP surrendered realizing that they had no chance if they do not go with the BJP. They do not have the resources to fight the poll alone and if they cannot win a single seat, the party will be nowhere in the state politics. Some local protest are expected, but they are supposed to blow over within a week as the mighty anti CAB protest evaporated in last one month, forcing the anti CAB force to feel completely isolated and dejected.