GUWAHATI: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the key ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, is reportedly planning to demand three Lok Sabha seats from the BJP in the upcoming 2024 polls.
Expressing optimism, AGP President Atul Bora, while addressing a gathering of party workers convened in Tinsukia district, said that the party is determined to win one or two seats in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“Our party came to power in Assam twice on its own. We even won as much as 95 seats. The AGP still holds strong support among Assamese people. We are aiming to expand our support base ahead of the general election scheduled for next year,” the press quoted him as saying.
Keshab Mahanta, another minister from AGP, emphasised the party’s efforts to establish a strong rapport with the voters. “The Assamese people consider AGP as their own party. We must convey this message to the masses. The leadership is very hopeful of putting up a strong performance in the upcoming polls,” Mahanta was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, speculations in the BJP camp suggest that the Saffron party is likely to offer a maximum of two seats to their ally AGP. Assam has a total of 14 Lok Sabha seats, and the BJP’s other ally, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), is expected to contest the Kokrajhar seat, with the BJP gearing up to contest the remaining Lok Sabha constituencies.
It’s worth noting that AGP contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections without forming an alliance with the BJP. However, in the run-up to the 2016 state Assembly polls, the two parties joined forces and forged an alliance.
The alliance faced a tumultuous period in 2019 when the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in Parliament. AGP initially severed ties with the BJP but soon reconciled and reinstated the alliance shortly before the Lok Sabha polls. Since then, AGP has remained in an alliance with the BJP. During the previous general election, AGP contested in two seats but did not secure any victories.
