Guwahati: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Brindaban Goswami was unanimously re-elected leader of the AGP Legislature Party on Tuesday.

The decision came a day after the steering committee of the regional party, owned collective responsibility for the poll debacle and resigned en masse on Monday.

Since the AGP's strength in the House is 24, Mr Goswami will also get the status of the Leader of Opposition.

Though Mr. Goswami proposed the name of senior leader Phani Bhusan Choudhury for the post, Mr. Choudhury declined to accept it and proposed that Mr. Goswami be re-elected.

The meeting, attended by 23 party MLAs, also elected Chandramohan Patowary as the Chief Whip and Phani Bhusan Choudhury as general secretary.

Pradip Hazarika, who won from Amguri constituency, could not attend as he is recuperating at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after being wounded in an attack by the United Liberation Front of Asom.

Mr. Goswami told reporters that the central executive committee meeting, to be convened on June 2, would make a detailed analysis of the poll outcomeand reasons behind the debacle.

A new steering committee would also be constituted.

The AGP steering committee, which stood behind Mr. Goswami, said in its resolution that the party president could not be held solely responsible for the poll defeat as all decisions relating to the elections were taken by it.

Mr. Goswami said that the people's verdict was that they should sit in the Opposition and hence the party would play the role of a strong Opposition and highlight important issues such as implementation of the Assam Accord, besides permanent solutions to the insurgency problem, problems of flood and erosion.

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