The Hindu : AGP chief for strengthening of regional forces

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 03, 2004

National

National

AGP chief for strengthening of regional forces

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, FEB. 2. The newly-elected president of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Brindaban Goswami, today declared a war on both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party and called for "rooting out" both from State politics.

Addressing partymen at the AGP headquarters here, Mr. Goswami said the party would strive to be a strong alternative to the Congress and the BJP to strengthen the forces of regionalism in Assam. And to achieve this, the AGP might have to enter into strategic alliances with other parties.

In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, out of a total 14 seats, the Congress won 10, the BJP two, independents two, while the AGP drew a blank.

Mr. Goswami, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, threw open the party's door to all those who had left the AGP and had either floated regional parties or had joined national parties.

During the tenure of his predecessor, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, former Chief Minister and AGP's founder-president, several senior leaders had rebelled and quit the party. Prominent among them were the former Home Minister and signatory of the Assam accord, Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, the former Public Works Department Minister, Atul Bora, and the former Speaker of the Assembly, Pulakesh Baruah.

While Mr. Phukan is now the State president of the P.A. Sangma-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, Mr. Bora and Mr. Baruah are the general secretary and president of the Trinamool Gana Parishad, a split away faction of the AGP.

Mr. Goswami defeated Mr. Mahanta in a direct contest for the post of party president at the AGP's sixth triennial conference, which concluded at Tezpur, hometown of Mr. Goswami, on January 30.

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