BJP will use AGP crutch in Assam

BJP will use AGP crutch in Assam
SHARAD GUPTA

NEW DELHI, APRIL 3: The BJP has dropped its plan to fight the Assam Assembly elections alone. Rocked by the Tehelka expose, the party has decided to lean on the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

An AGP team, comprising party general-secretary Chandra Mohan Patwari and former Union Minister Birendra Vaishya, will arrive here tomorrow to talk seat-sharing with BJP leaders.

Sunil Shastri, BJP general-secretary in charge of Assam, in a five-hour meeting convinced state unit leaders including chief Rajen Gohai, Union Minister Bijoya Chakravarty, former Union minister Kabindra Purkayastha and the organising secretary for Assam about the need for an AGP-BJP alliance.

The tie-up was proposed at a meeting of Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta and Home Minister L.K. Advani on Thursday to finalise a package for Bodos and other ethnic groups. Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee reportedly gave his nod to the proposal this evening.

The AGP-BJP tie-up might improve the electoral chances of the parties, both faced with corruption charges.

But it may alienate smaller parties such as United Minorities Front (UMF), Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) and the Left parties from the AGP. The Centre’s package for Bodos, however, may entice Bodo parties to join the alliance.

At first, state BJP leaders were opposed to a tacit understanding with the AGP for fear of an anti-incumbency vote against the Mahanta government.

Though Advani had dropped hints of forging an alliance by not criticising Mahanta on his Assam tour last month, the BJP leadership failed to see the move as significant. After Tehelka, however, the BJP was forced to accept AGP’s proposal to join forces.

‘‘We are tying up with the AGP because we don’t want to split the anti-Congress votes in Assam,’’ state BJP leaders said. They plan to negotiate for at least 50 seats, including the 33 Assembly segments where they contested first in the 1999 general elections and the 17 where the party was runners-up.

Of the total 126 seats, Bodo parties may contest at least 15 because they dominate 18 seats and have some presence in 10 others. AHDC constituents would contest five and AGP and BJP might contest half of the remaining 105 seats, BJP sources said.

The BJP, with five MLAs, cornered 33 per cent votes in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, second only to Congress’ 37 per cent. The AGP managed only 17 per cent. After the tie-up, BJP hopes to fight Congress for each vote. ‘‘We will contest to win,’’ Shastri said today.