If Citizen Amendment Bill 2016 passes, Asom Gana Parishad to Break Alliance with BJP in Assam

The Asom Gana Parishad party president Atul Bora who is also the State Agricultural Minister, says on Saturday that if the Centre passes the Citizen Amendment Bill 2016 then their party will be compelled to break the alliance with BJP. Notably, the allied parties BJP and AGP together had formed the government in Assam with the ministry comprised of many notable ministers from AGP.

Bora said, “If Centre passes the Citizen Amendment Bill 2016 in the Parliament then we will break our alliance with the (BJP-led) state govt.” He also adds, “Currently, we (Asom Gana Parishad) are a part of the BJP-led Assam government. If Centre passes the Citizen Amendment Bill 2016 in the Parliament then we will break our alliance with the state govt.”

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AGP is a junior partner in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam and three of its MLAs are serving as ministers in the Assam government. In fact, the Chief Minister of the state, Sarbananda Sonowal too was once a prominent leader of the AGP and later switched over to the BJP.

As the Asom Gana Parishad party strongly opposes the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, it cannot stand the bill at any cost. Before this as well, the State Agricultural Minister and his AGP party members have expressed their strong opposition towards the Bill. The party has even shown its strong reactions ever since the introduction of the bill in 2016. He said, "It will violate the Assam Accord and it will also violate the entire process of NRC updation. The people fought for six long years to detect and deport the illegal immigrants from Assam after which the Assam Accord was signed. The agitation saw the sacrifice and bloodshed of 855 People.”

Before this, AGP chief and former Assam CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had accused the Narendra Modi Government of using the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process underway in Assam for political gains and had demanded immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendment to the Citizenship Act.