AGP, BJP seat-share finalised

GUWAHATI: On a day when Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta expressed his unhappiness over his party’s decision to ally with the BJP again, Assam finance minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the BJP, AGP and Bodoland peoples’ Front have already finalised seat-sharing for Lok sabha polls.

Sarma said BJP’S parliamentary board will spell out the arrangement fleshed out with allies on March 16. “The three parties have decided to contest the polls together to defeat the Congress and to make Narendra Modi the country’s Prime Minister again. Though seat-sharing arrangements have been finalized, our party’s parliamentary board will announce the candidates on March 16,” said Sarma.

Meanwhile, AGP leader and former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said the party did not consult him on alliance with BJP. “I was not aware of the alliance. I came to know about the party’s decision only through media,” Mahanta told mediapersons in Nagaon.

“I am against alliance with the BJP. The party leaders have taken the decision on their own. We have to ascertain what our district committees and grass- root workers want,” he said.

Sarma said the three ministers of AGP, who had resigned following a row over Citizenship Amendment Bill in January this year, will resume their charge on Wednesday.

He said that the BJP’S stand on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 is firm. “Our stand on the Bill remains the same since the Jan Sangha days,” he said.

“We know that the AGP has a stand on the Bill. We do not want the AGP to change their stand. However, both the BJP and AGP will continue to talk over the issue in the next few months and will find out how the Bill can be turned more beneficial for the people of Assam,” he said.