Guwahati: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Shourie on Sunday urged the Asom Gana Parishad to come out of the "illusion of getting Muslim votes by forging [an] opportunistic alliance with the communists."

Mr. Shourie, who was here to release the "Asom Vision 2020" brought out by the State unit of the party, took strong exception to AGP chief Brindaban Goswami calling the BJP a communal party.

"Communists parties are more communal than any party," he said.

Mr. Shourie said an AGP-BJP combine would make a big difference in the coming Assembly elections. He described the polls as the last opportunity for the people to stop the influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

He urged the AGP leadership to realise that a regional party must ally with a strong national party to have a voice in Delhi.

Mr. Shourie alleged that the Congress and communist parties depended on infiltrators for votes. The AGP's move to align with the communists would only strengthen the Congress, he said.

Mr. Shourie recalled his association with AGP leaders since the anti-foreigners movement and said he was present as a guest at the Golaghat convention in 1985 when the party was formed. The split in the AGP was due to "personal reasons," he said, and urged its leaders to give up "personal jealousy."

Mr. Shourie cautioned that if the Congress or any combination that is dependent on the votes of infiltrators comes to power, Assamese identity would be wiped out and the State would only become an extension of Bangladesh.

Mr. Shourie accused the Congress of reviving the scrapped Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 by incorporating the same provision in the form of a new Foreigners (Tribunal) Order.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union Minister of Heavy Industries Santosh Mohan Dev had gone back on their assurances to All-Assam Students' Union leaders of not going against the Supreme Court verdict on the IMDT.

Mr. Shourie said the stand of the Congress-led Central Government and the party-ruled State Government on illegal Bangladeshi migrants was worse than that of the Bangladesh Government.

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