Guwahati (Assam): The former Assam CM Mahanta, who had founded the once most prominent regional political party in Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) after a six-year-long students movement known as Assam Movement, was denied a ticket by the regional party to contest in the forthcoming polls.
Mahanta and his supporters are now trying to revive the AGP (Pragatisheel), a breakaway faction of the party to contest the polls from Barhampur assembly constituency, a seat he had been retaining since 1991. The AGP, which was in power in Assam for two terms- in 1985 and in 1996, split in 2005 after the former Chief Minister Mahanta formed the Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive). Later, the two factions, however, regrouped in 2008.
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The AGP, which is going to polls with the ruling BJP, has given the Barhampur seat to the saffron party. The AGP leadership says that the decision was taken as there is no possibility of Mahanta winning the seat this time. In 2016, Mahanta could've retained the seat by a meagre margin of 5000 votes only. On the other hand, the BJP already named one Jitu Goswami as the party candidate from Barhampur.
The denial of ticket to the former Chief Minister, however, did not shock many in Assam. In fact, the regional party had already sidelined the two time former Chief Minister in the party due to his stand against the CAA. Mahanta was also against the party's alliance with the saffron party in 2016. Mahanta and his supporters feel that he was denied the ticket from Barhampur seat as part of a larger conspiracy to keep him away from the party.
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The two time former Chief Minister had also been very vocal against the present leadership of the AGP on various issues.
"Not only for his stand against the CAA but Mahanta was gradually sidelined in AGP by the present leadership. In the last few years, we have seen that Mahanta was not even invited to the AGP legislature party meetings. He was also not intimated many times about the party meetings in the party's head office in Guwahati. CAA is something that is going to affect the identity of the Assamese people. So Mahanta had made his point clear many times. He had never supported the CAA and he has even spoken about it openly. He had wanted the party to stand against it but the party chose to be in power by supporting the BJP," said Mahanta's wife Jayshree Goswami Mahanta, a former parliamentarian and a renowned author.
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She said that the AGP is now being dictated by some other parties in Delhi and that the regional party has lost its moto and objective. She confirmed that Mahanta will contest the polls from Barhampur constituency as the people still love him. She added that Mahanta is in favour of supporting the grand alliance led by Congress so that the BJP could be defeated in the forthcoming polls.
