BJP, AGP to contest Assam polls in alliance, friendly fights where needed: Himanta

Guwahati: BJP will contest the upcoming assembly elections in alliance with AGP wherever feasible, while opting for friendly contests in seats that neither party is willing to give up, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

Sarma said a full alliance across all constituencies would be ideal, but added that the BJP has no objection to friendly contests in seats where AGP also fields candidates. “AGP has its own organisational base, and its supporters may want the party to contest. Therefore, our solution is to fight in alliance wherever possible and allow friendly contests in overlapping seats. It will be fine if either BJP or AGP wins,” he said.


AGP is an existing key ally of the BJP in the govt.

He late on Thursday evening set March 10 as the new target for finalising the seat-sharing agreement within the ruling NDA for the assembly polls, four days after declaring that it was a “done deal”. He added that the discussions with two allies were still underway.

“Our talks with the BPF will be complete within a day or two. It will be done with AGP by March 9-10. We hope everything will be finalised by then and we will be able to announce the alliance by March 10,” he said.

The CM said the seat-sharing arrangement with the Rabha Hasong Joutha Sangram Samiti (RHJSS) is complete.

He attributed the delay partly to the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections, saying NDA partners are moving cautiously during this period.

Among NDA constituents in the state, the BJP, AGP, Pramod Boro-led United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), and Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) have representations in the assembly.

The RHJSS and Janashakti Party are also part of the coalition, but do not have any MLAs.

Following the 2023 delimitation exercise, several constituencies have seen boundary changes, while some seats have been converted from general to reserved categories and vice versa.

In the 126-member assembly, currently the BJP has 64 MLAs, while its allies AGP, UPPL and BPF have nine, seven and three members, respectively.

In the opposition camp, the Congress has 26 MLAs, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) 15, CPI(M) one, and there is one Independent legislator.