Lachit Bardoloi and Hemen Borah, senior leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP,) on the 13th of March, resigned from the Party.
The resignation was given hours after the AGP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed an alliance, on the 13th of March, in Assam, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Bardoloi, who was angry over the alliance, took to his social media account and expressed his anger towards the State Government. He said, “Thank you opportunistic AGP leaders, you have unmasked your and party’s fake regional character. You must not talk about our 855 martyrs from today onwards. Wiping out AGP from the heart. Time has come for all who believes in regionalism must be united.”
Mr. Hemen also criticised the AGP for joining hands with the BJP for winning the elections and ignoring the demands of the Assamese, who are against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The AGP leaders are against the alliance because the BJP cleared its stand and said, if the latter wins the elections, it will reintroduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. This goes against the wishes of the citizens of Assam, who oppose the Bill.
The Citizenship Bill will provide citizenship to individuals belonging to communities such as the Sikhs, the Hindus, the Jains, the Buddhists, the Christians and the Parsis and countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The citizens of Assam opposed the bill and protested against it when it was introduced in Lok Sabha and then the Rajya Sabha. Though the Bill did not pass at the time, the BJP is in full swing to win the elections and introduce the Bill again and make it a law.
Speaking about the necessity of the alliance, Atul Bora, the President of the AGP, said, the alliance is needed at this time, to compete against the Indian National Congress (INC) in the Lok Sabha elections.
The INC criticised the alliance of the BJP and the AGP and said, both the allied parties will get an answer from the Assamese for their betrayal. The INC also made a mention of the Citizenship Bill to gain voters and said, if the INC comes to power after winning the Lok Sabha elections, the Party will scrap the bill.
Assam will contest a total of 14 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on the 11th, 18th and 23rd of April 2019.
The major parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections are the INC and the BJP.
The results of the elections will be announced on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Lok Sabha elections.
