Debabrata Saikia urges new parties to ally with Congress

GUWAHATI: Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia has urged all anti-BJP forces in the State to form a grand alliance with the Congress if they desire to oust the ruling party from power in the Assembly elections slated for of 2021.

Referring to the formation of a new political party named 'Raijor Dol' by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS), Saikia said on Saturday that while some regional political parties of Assam had become virtually defunct, quite a few new regional parties have come to the fore with the avowed goal of fighting against and defeating the BJP in next year's elections. Extending his best wishes to the newly-formed

parties, Saikia cautioned that the BJP would, however, return to power and the woes of the people of Assam would be compounded if the anti-BJP forces fail to forge a united front before the Assembly elections.

The Leader of the Opposition pointed out that the Congress had been fighting elections against the BJP on ideological and policy grounds even before the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. "In fact, the ideological battle between the Congress and forerunners of the BJP has been continuing since the pre-Independence era. The Congress has fought against the BJP in each and every election in Assam since 2014, although his party has met with limited success due to various factors. Nevertheless, the Congress has stood by the people of Assam at crucial junctures. In fact, it was the stiff opposition mounted by the Congress in the Rajya Sabha that prevented the BJP-led Central Government from passing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill,

2016 before the Lok Sabha elections of 2019," Saikia said in a statement issued to the media.

Saikia said that the people of Assam have now realized that various promises made by the BJP during the Assembly elections of 2016 and Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019 were nothing but a cynical ploy to garner votes and, as such, the voters desire that a non-BJP Government should come to power in the Assembly elections of 2021.

Saikia asserted his belief that no political force can dethrone the BJP in Assam without the assistance of the Congress. "If these parties truly feel that the BJP is the principal enemy of the people of Assam and their interests, then they should join hands with the Congress and jointly fight the electoral battle of 2021," Saikia said, and exhorted the anti-BJP forces to make necessary adjustments and evolve a common programme with the Congress to achieve this end. He further urged the new parties not to tar the Congress and the BJP with the same brush as 'enemies of Assam' and thereby mislead the electorate. 

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