One more party!

The formation of yet another regional party and that too at a time when the state Assembly elections are only a few months away, is an interesting development. The 'Raijor Dal' floated by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) on Friday in fact is the fourth regional party in Assam in the past few weeks. First it was a group comprising senior advocate Arup Borbora, National Award-winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua and others who had formed the 'Sanjukta Anchalik Dal' under the auspices of what they had called 'Anchalikatabad Suraksha Mancha,' which was followed by 'Anchalik Gana Parishad' floated by former journalist Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, who was in March elected to the Rajya Sabha with the support and blessings of the Congress and the AIUDF. Then came the 'Asom Jatiya Parishad' which was formed by a panel constituted by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU).

With the Assembly elections only a few months away, one cannot rule out the possibility of formation of more such parties, all claiming to be regional parties. A couple of parties were similarly formed in Assam on the eve of the 2016 Assembly elections too, one of which – Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – was floated by Pradyut Bora, who had contested the 2011 Assembly election as a BJP candidate in Jalukbari against Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was then in the Congress. Nobody in Assam however can recall whether the LDP had made any impact on the 2016 elections, and this despite the fact that several 'prominent' persons of the state had joined it. This time too, the common citizens as of now, do not appear to be much interested in the newly-formed regional parties. For the common people – the common voters – the most important issue now is survival amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and safety and security. There is little doubt that on the larger plane, the forthcoming Assam Assembly election will be fought primarily between two sides – the BJP-AGP plus a Bodo party on one side and the Congress-AIUDF alliance on the other.

Bodo politics on the other hand might see a major change if the BJP breaks its alliance with Hagrama Mohilary's BPF and takes Pramod Boro's UPPL on its side. In such an event, there is every possibility of Hagrama Mohilary's BPF moving towards the Congress party, though the fact remains that BPF and AIUDF are sworn enemies in the backdrop of the dangerous demographic changes that Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baska districts have undergone in the past few decades because of infiltration from erstwhile East Pakistan and present-day Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the common people have been engaged in discussions about the new regional outfits that have emerged in Assam in the past few days. Even a cursory glance at different social media will reveal that a sizable section of people are not very enthusiastic about the formation of these new parties. The people have seen the fate of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), once a great regional party which has reached today's pathetic stage because its leaders had failed on all fronts. The AGP leaders had failed to understand the demographic changes and the ethnic composition of Assam.

They had largely stood for the hegemony of the Assamese-speaking people, little realising that the survival of the Assamese-speaking people also largely depends upon the survival of the other indigenous and ethnic communities of the state. There is every possibility that the new groups will also suffer from the same syndromes; the composition of leadership of these groups by and large only tell this kind of a story. It may not sound very soothing for those who have so enthusiastically floated the new parties. But then the harsh reality is that the composition of leaders heading these new parties does not appear to attract, convince and give any assurance to the common people. Mere slogans cannot bring success. One has to have a solid, convincing, practical policy and a clear long-term outlook based on the ground realities, in addition to a well-drawn economic agenda. These have not been visible in the newly-floated groups. In a democracy like India, the Constitution does not debar any citizen from forming associations and political parties. But then, in a democracy, it is the people who matter, whose names constitute the first two words of the Preamble to the Constitution.