BJP-AGP Unveil Seat-Sharing Arrangement, Poll Plans for Assam

BJP said the election will be a contest between “all indigenous people” led by it, and Congress and the UDF.

Ravi Shankar Prasad announces BJP-AGP tie-up at a press conference. (Photo: IANS)

The BJP formally announced its tie-up with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) along with the seat-sharing arrangement in Assam. The BJP said the assembly election will be a contest between “all indigenous people”, led by it on one side, and Congress and the UDF on the other.

The AGP, which has ruled the state on its own twice, will play the junior partner and contest 24 out of the 126 seats. The rest will be divided among the BJP and three other smaller outfits, with the saffron party leading the alliance.

The BJP has already entered into a tie-up with Bodoland People’s Front, which will contest 16 seats, besides two other outfits representing local tribes. An alliance with the AGP will help the BJP in consolidating Hindu votes in a state where Muslims are more than 30 percent and back UDF and Congress, BJP sources said.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the announcement at a press conference in New Delhi. The alliance’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, AGP chief Atul Bora, and BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, were also present at the media conference.

Poll Issues

• “Massive infiltration” in the state with the “collusion and patronage” of the Tarun Gogoi government.
  
• Freeing the state of “corrupt and non-developmental” rule marked by “mal-governance”.
  
• Implementing the Assam accord, under which illegal immigrants are to be identified and deported, will be a priority if voted to power.
  
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AGP’s Atul Bora said the previous AGP governments had also “failed” in executing it but added that with BJP in power at the Centre, they will be able to do it this time.

“BJP has assured us they will do whatever they can to implement the accord,” he said, adding that there could be a “friendly fight” between the two parties on a few seats.