AGP to walk out of UNPA over SP stand

From Our Special Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 5 – The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is likely to come out of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) if the Samajwadi Party remains a member of it. Addressing a Press conference here today, AGP president Brindaban Goswami said that the stand of the AGP is very clear on the issue of staying with the UNPA and asserted that it would be forced to come out of the alliance if the Samajwadi Party, which is likely to extend support to the Congress, remains one of its constituents. He said that the AGP was holding talks on the issue with the other regional parties in the Alliance in this regard.Replying to a question on the possibility of the AGP forging an alliance with the BJP for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, Goswami said that the regional party has been talking with different parties. He said that the main aim of the AGP is to form a common platform of the opposition parties to defeat the Congress.However, other office bearers of the AGP including Birendra Prasad Baishya, Kumar Deepak Das and Nurul Hussain, who were present in the Press conference, said that the AGP would not forge an alliance with the BJP and the party might only go for seat sharing. source: assam tribune

Truce by ULFA faction alone will not bring peace: Brindaban

Truce by ULFA faction alone will not bring peace: Brindaban

From Our Correspondent SIVASAGAR, June 28 – While welcoming the willingness of a section of ULFA cadres for the ceasefire, AGP president Brindaban Goswami said here on Friday that it will not bring permanent peace to the State. Besides, the AGP does not approve of the coarcive means alleged to have been adopted by the present government.Referring to the on-going Army operations, Goswami said that it is heart rending to see bullet-riddled bodies of Assamese youths in the fields or in streets. Obviously, the security agencies need to be retrained at once. Internecine bloodshed should be avoided at any cost, he appealed and a conducive atmosphere for peace must be created.Goswami categorically denied that DGP was a spent force, rather he said it managed to win support of not less than 31 lakh voters in the last general elections and it will bounce back with rescued vigour in the next Parliamentary elections. He said, he was hopeful of unification of all factions of AGP and likeminded regional parties, but the final outcome of the on-going unification move will depend on the report of the committee instituted for the purpose.Further, the AGP strategy for the next Parliamentary elections will depend on the report of the 11 field committees formed in 11 Parliamentary authorities.The leader of the Opposition came down heavily on the Centre and the Congress party and said that it is the years of misrule by the Congress party that led to wanton exploitation of the State’s resources, inabated influx, ethnic violence and rise of divisive tendencies among the people of the State.He also called upon the election commission to review the election process and check rigging.Brindaban Goswami was in Sivasagar as part of his Upper Assam tour to call on the bereaved family members of former AGP leader Naren Tanti and Nitya Dutta, who died recently. source: assam tribune

Poll tie-up arrangements at preliminary stage: BJP

Poll tie-up arrangements at preliminary stage: BJP

From our Correspondent JORHAT, June 16: The State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) hasn’t come up with any definite poll strategy for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Asom. Though the party is harping on terrorism, price rise and foreign policy as the basic issues for the Parliamentary elections, it hasn’t sounded a clear note on alliance with any political parties in the State for the next General Election.“Several parties and organizations have approached us lately and the discussions are at a preliminary stage,” the BJP’s central observer for Asom, Harendra Pratap told reporters here today. Though BJP doesn’t advocate a policy of untouchability, it will do everything in its power to defeat the Congress, Communists and communal forces, he added.Pratap was briefing mediapersons on the proceedings of the two-day executive and office bearers’ meet of the saffron party which concluded here on Sunday. State BJP president Ramen Deka, vice president Palit Kumar Borah and other local functionaries were present at the news conference. Terming the Congress-led Government in Asom as ‘the most tainted and corrupt in the country,’ Pratap called for a polarization of non-Congress and anti-Congress votes in the State. “If we want to save the country from internal threats posed by Pakistani and Bangladeshi fundamentalist forces, the Congress has to be voted out of power in Asom and the Communist parties should be ousted from West Bengal,” the BJP leader said. The UPA allies at the Centre are not taking the sealing of the international border with Bangladesh seriously to stop infiltration, Pratap said, adding that the Asom Government is more concerned about the welfare of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The Maoists in Nepal, who are playing into the hands of China, also hold an external threat perception, he maintained. Referring to the high inflation in the country, the BJP’s central observer felt that it would reach a double-digit rate soon as the ‘economy is on the verge of collapse due to the policies of the UPA Government.’ The Assembly election results in the last one year have signalled that the BJP-led NDA is on course of forming the next Union Government, Pratap said. The State BJP president said that the party would press for the removal of all ministers and MLAs who are allegedly involved in the politically-motivated murders in Asom. Education Minister Ripun Bora, who was arrested on a bribery charge, should be arrested for murder too, Deka stressed. “We have adopted a resolution to push for adequate probes and other judicial action against five political murders and other lapses on the part of the State Government and its ministers,” he added. The State BJP chief called Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi the ‘merchant of corruption.’ Gogoi is shielding his colleagues who have failed to deliver on all fronts, Deka said. Asom BJP vice president Borah reeled out statistics to highlight the ‘decaying law-and-order situation in the State since 2003.

Unification: AGP holding more talks with regional parties

The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad is holding yet another rounds of unification talk with its breakaway AGP(P), Trinamool Gana Parishad and PLP.The discussion, which is holding in Dispur is set to finalise the modalities for unification of the state's regional parties. The meeting is also discussing the conditions forwarded by these regional parties.According to senior leaders of the regional party, after these rounds of discussions, the AGP's unification panel headed by working president Phani Bhushan Chaudhory will submit a report to the party's policymaking body for final approval.Meanwhile, some leaders here hoped that the entire process is set to be completed by within a period of two months.