The Hindu : National : AGP not to help NDA form government

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 01, 2004

National

National

AGP not to help NDA form government

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, APRIL 30 . The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) said today that it would not extend support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to form a government at the Centre.

The party vice-president, Biraj Kumar Sharma, said that even if the BJP were to seek such support the party would turn it down.

He, however, said that no BJP or NDA leader had so far approached the AGP in this regard.

The regional party had drawn a blank in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections and hence had no role in government formation. However, recent exit polls had shown that the AGP may bag a few seats and in the event of the NDA falling short of the magic number as indicated by exit polls, the BJP may have to look for support of regional parties like AGP.

The Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, yesterday claimed that "secret love affair" between the AGP and the BJP was still on and in at least seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, the two parties had reached "secret understanding." The Congress had won in 10 while the BJP had won in two seats in 1999.

Though the AGP had initially shown its keenness to have a seat adjustment with the BJP, it did not materialise owing to a stiff opposition by the State unit of the BJP.

The State unit had convinced the central leadership that electorate of Assam had been disillusioned with both the Congress and the AGP and hence alliance with the regional party at this stage might affect the party's poll prospect in the Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2001 Assembly elections, the two parties had struck an alliance for all but eight seats in which they had a "friendly fight."

Mr. Sharma, however, maintained that since the AGP had contested this year's election alone, the regional party would prefer not to take sides at the time of government formation.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National