RSS ends tiff with BJP, to back saffron candidates

Guwahati: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has swallowed its displeasure over BJP's alliance with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and thrown its weight behind the saffron party's candidates for the assembly election.
The organization did, however, assert that the poll pact could have been avoided had the Centre delayed its notification on granting citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In September last year, the Centre decided to regularize the entry and stay of Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists from Pakistan and Bangladesh who were compelled to seek shelter in India without valid documents because of religious persecution. This notification triggered large-scale protests against BJP in the state. Even AGP opposed the decision.
"Popular Assamese sentiment went against the notification. The announcement ended up alienating the Assamese voter. Had the notification been issued after the polls, this would not have happened. We had to hold on to Assamese voters, which made the alliance necessary," a senior state RSS functionary said. The RSS was also dissatisfied with the alliance because it felt the poll pact robbed BJP of its potential to win the election on its own.
The stalemate ended at a recent meeting between RSS and BJP functionaries at the former's state headquarters at Keshav Dham here. Joint general secretary of RSS Krishna Gopal Sharma, who is also responsible for liaison between RSS and BJP, attended the meeting.
"Now that the alliance has been finalized, we have to keep the morale of our karyakarta (workers) high. This is a crucial election as far as BJP is concerned. So we decided to direct all our efforts towards ensuring BJP's victory," a senior RSS state functionary said.
Under the alliance agreement, BJP will contest 90 out of 126 seats, while AGP will contest 24 constituencies. Another 12 seats will be contested by BJP's other ally, Bodoland People's Front (BPF).
Leaders of both BJP and AGP, however, evade questions regarding the parties' differences over the notification. "Right now, our focus is solely on ousting Congress and putting in place a pro-people government," BJP president Sarbananda Sonowal said. All differences can be sorted through dialogue after the election, AGP head Atul Bora added.