AGP and its well-wishers

The decision of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to return to the BJP-led alliance within just about two months of parting ways has become a hot topic in Assam. It has on one hand led to some loud internal dissentions within the party, while a section of people have criticized the regional party and its present set of leadership of betraying the people. It is a fact that the Asom Gana Parishad was born following the culmination of the six-year-long popular movement led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) from 1979 to 1985 demanding detection and deportation of large numbers of Bangladeshis who had illegally entered Assam and had even found their way to the state’s electoral rolls. While the AASU-led movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in August 1985, the AGP was constituted in a two-day public convention held in Golaghat in October 1985. The newborn party won the state assembly election held in December that year with a narrow margin.

The regional party did come to power twice, the second time being in 1996-2001, heading a coalition, with the CPI becoming a direct partner, while the CPI(M), ASDC and even the BJP lending it outside support. The party had also joined other alliances, like the National Front government headed by VP Singh (1989-91), and the United Front government headed by HD Deve Gowda and later IK Gujral (1996-1998), during which it could get certain important decisions taken by the Union government which had long-lasting impact on the state and the region’s overall development. The AGP had also tied up with the BJP on several occasions, including on the eve of the 2016 assembly elections, and the last occasion was even both party actually benefitted from the alliance. It is a fact that the Congress could not have been ousted in Assam if the AGP and BJP had not joined hands in 2016. While it is a fact that the two parties do not follow the same ideology, it naturally flows that both also have different stands on different issues. The immediate issue is the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which the BJP wants to push, and the AGP opposes.

While people have the right to criticize a political party for its policies and decisions, what is amazing is that majority of the people who have been lambasting the AGP in the past few days had never ever contributed towards the growth of the regional party in the past. There are no instances of these groups and individuals ever going out to support or campaign for the AGP when it fought elections on earlier occasions. Yes, it is a fact that leaders and supporters of the party have the right to criticize and oppose the decision of the present leadership to re-join the BJP-led alliance. But then, taking a close look, one would find that those leaders had also never ever taken any such action which had actually contributed towards healthy growth of the AGP. The regional party has its own inherent problems. While most of its founder leaders think the party belongs to them, they do not allow the entry of fresh blood. Thus, while several leaders who served the AGP for long have left to join other parties – more particularly the BJP – not even one significant new-generation person has joined the party in the past say 20-25 years. Whether the decision of the AGP to rejoin the BJP-led alliance was right or wrong is one matter. But then while there is a saying that nothing is impossible in politics, it is also a fact stated by both parties that defeating the Congress and the AIUDF was one top priority. And, as both parties have said, the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would be discussed through a consensus when the time arrives.