Wiping out AGP

Recent media reports saying that a central leader of the BJP asking the party workers at the state executive committee to “wipe out” the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) carry certain very dangerous signals. The BJP must have forgotten that it had won the Assam Assembly election in 2016 not simply by piggy-riding the AGP and another important regional party, the Bodo People’s Front (BPF), but by also gaining the winning margin in most constituencies in the Brahmaputra Valley courtesy the two regional parties. It is a fact that the AGP on its own is currently not in a position to win 60-plus seats and form a government of its own. But it is also a fact that the BJP could not have won 60 seats if it had contested the election on its own. Even the party’s own internal assessment during the election was that it would at best bag only about 48 to 50 seats, and would have had to form the government with the support of the AGP and the BJP, both of which were sure of winning at least a dozen seats each in an alliance situation.

Moreover, the BJP would have been far from forming a government had it not taken in a large number of defectors. These defectors came both from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) as well as the Congress. Stalwarts of the AGP who had shifted allegiance to the BJP included Chandra Mohan Patowary, Hitendra Nath Goswami, Padma Hazarika, Atul Bora (Senior), and Naba Kumar Doley, while Himanta Biswa Sarma was the most important Congress leader to the have defected, along with about dozen legislators during the run-up to the election to strengthen the position of the BJP. Though the BJP leadership might justify that the party was anyway half-way through in Assam by winning seven of the fourteen Lok Sabha seats during the 2015 general elections. But then, the psychology of voting during Lok Sabha elections is entirely different from the psychology of voting by the same people during State Assembly elections. This will be seen in the next Lok Sabha polls too.

Moreover, it will be unwise to write off the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) altogether because Assam, like all other states, requires a regional party not only to uphold the regional and local issues but also to maintain a check and balance with the national party – in this case the BJP – on crucial issues affecting the state. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill itself is one glaring example in which the regional party – AGP – needs to keep a check on the BJP. In fact, looking at the larger and common interest of all indigenous communities of the state, the BPF and other regional parties like the ASDC too ought to take the same stand as the AGP on this issue. Granting citizenship to large number of Bengali-speaking Hindus from Bangladesh would not only affect the Assamese-speaking community, but also push to the brink the other communities – Bodo, Karbi, Rabha, Mising, Dimasa, Deuri, etc.

It is true that the AGP has been rendered weak due to defection by some senior leaders during the run-up to the 2016 Assembly election. The regional party however should not be sitting complacent by merely issuing a statement that no power can break it or finish it off. Instead, what the regional party urgently needs is to get into a serious brain-storming session on how to strengthen it. One way of increasing its strength and popularity is to attract fresh blood. Taking a closer look one finds that the current set of top AGP leaders are not interested in vacating their positions and offer them to younger people. Some of them in fact consider the party as their personal fiefdom. The ground reality is that the Assamese people want the AGP to grow stronger, and outwit the BJP, if possible, in the next Assembly election. It should also tie-up on common issues with the BPF, so that the combined strength of the Assamese and Bodo people also cause a scare for the illegal migrants and people having their roots in East Bengal, erstwhile East Pakistan and present Bangladesh.

Roads to China border

Exodus of people from villages located along the international boundary with China in Arunachal Pradesh has been a cause of worry for both the state government as well as the Union government for quite a long time. Several developmental schemes launched for arresting this exodus have not yielded positive and satisfactory results. One reason behind this is that a sizeable portion of funds allocated for various developmental schemes in the border areas allegedly find way to pockets of politicians and ministers. Another reason is that the people there, especially the youth, want employment, which is not available sitting in their villages. Schemes under MNGREGA are not that attractive, one reason again being the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for wages of the people. Connectivity however is seen is one panacea for this, and construction of roads, providing quality Internet connectivity and making healthcare accessible are some measures that can motivate the people not to leave their villages. The Union government, through the ministry of road transport and highways, has taken up several road projects for the benefit of the border villagers. Altogether six ambitious road projects leading to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are currently under implementation in Arunachal Pradesh and three in Sikkim. These are: Joram-Koloring (118.39 km), Akajan-Likabali-Bame (79.93 km), Demwe-Hawami (56.17 km), Khupa-Hayuliang-Hawai (63.131 km), Hunli-Anini (185.283 km), Bile-Migging (23 km), Taliha-Tato (70 km), Singtam-Tarku-Rabongla (32.5 km), Bagrakot-Menla (189 km) and Mangan-Lachung-Samdang (158 km), the last three being in Sikkim. What the people, and the state government and Union government now need to ensure is that every rupee earmarked for these projects are spent for road construction and not a single rupee finds its way to pockets of politicians, ministers and officers.