After BJP-BPF alliance, Congress presses for AGP tie-up

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Jan 13: The State Congress unit appears to be desperate to prevent any move among anti-Congress forces to come together in the upcoming elections.

Close on the heels of the BPF announcing its tie-up with the BJP, APCC president Anjan Dutta today held a meeting with AGP general secretary Durga Das Boro and MLA Bhupen Rai at the assembly secretariat.

Though the Congress described the meeting as an "informal" one, Dutta admitted that the Congress is keen for a tie-up with the AGP. "We are awaiting a proposal from the AGP," he said. The AGP and BJP had an alliance before. In the last assembly elections, the AGP had won 10 seats, while the BJP had bagged five.

However, since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, fortunes of the BJP changed considerably, as it was able to win a record seven parliamentary seats. The AGP currently has seven MLAs - one legislator (Sahidul Alam Choudhury) has expired and two MLAs have joined the BJP.

But the AGP's performance in the assembly elections has been always better than in Lok Sabha elections.

In most constituencies of Brahmaputra valley, the AGP continues to have a significant hold in the grassroots. The BJP is also in touch with the AGP. The AGP has asked 48 seats from the BJP, but the latter has instead offered 15 seats, leading to a stand-off.