AGP poll manifesto to focus on safety of indigenous people

GUWAHATI: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which walked out of its alliance with the BJP over opposing stands on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is focusing on the issue of safety and identity of indigenous people in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls. The party believes its decision to walk out of the alliance because BJP was supporting the bill will stand the party in good stead in the upcoming elections.
Senior AGP leader and chairman of the party’s publicity committee, Nurul Hussain, said, “We are concentrating on taking up the most important issues of the people.The party is focusing on building its grassroots connection and is currently collecting the feedback from the ground.”
Last month, AGP formed a publicity committee as well as a seven-member panel to determine the party strategy. AGP is also mulling options and considering which party to tie up with for the Lok Sabha polls.
Party insiders said that AGP has been assessing the ground situation to find out possible allies who may join hands with the party in favour of implementing the Assam Accord to its true spirit. Though Congress — which also opposed the citizenship bill in the state and also in the Parliament — has reportedly offered to tie up with AGP to put up a joint fight against the BJP, the regional party has always maintained its distance from the Grand Old Party.
Besides the citizenship bill, other issues that AGP is focusing on for its poll manifesto are unemployment and farmers’ distress. “Unlike national parties, AGP doesn’t have huge financial resources. So, we are chalking out a strategy to reach out to the maximum number of voters with minimum expense. Our workers at the grassroots have been activated to take the party’s aims and objectives across to the remotest corners of the state,” added Hussain.
In the 2014 general elections, AGP had fought alone and failed to win a single seat. BJP had won seven while Congress and AIUDF won three seats each. One seat had gone to an Independent candidate.