Guwahati, Dec. 28: Regional player Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is undertaking various activities to strengthen its organisational base in the run-up to the forthcoming panchayat polls.
The junior NDA-constituent said one of its primary objectives will be to ensure the defeat of the Congress party in the panchayat elections.
"With a view to further strengthen our base across the State and increase reach among the masses, we are carrying out a reorganisation of our party committees at the gaon panchayat (GP), anchalik panchayat (AP), and zila parishad (ZP) levels, taking into account the factors at the ground post-delimitation of the panchayats," AGP vice president and senior spokesperson Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee told The Assam Tribune.
AGP president and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora has constituted a four-member high-level committee for the panchayat elections.
The committee is headed by AGP working president and Revenue & Disaster Management Minister Keshab Mahanta, with party MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita as convenor, and Rajya Sabha MP Birendra Prasad Baishya and Lok Sabha MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury as members.
Bhattacharjee said that the committee is supervising AGP's preparation for the rural elections.
"We are undertaking various organisational activities, including meetings. Political workshops for our party members are being conducted Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC)-wise and more than 80 LACs have already been covered," he said.
AGP's membership drive is also going on.
"For the first time we facilitated membership using the online method, in addition to enrolling members in the traditional offline mode. While we have not set any specific target, the effort would be to enroll as many members as possible," Bhattacharjee said.
A meeting of the AGP office-bearers was held at the New Assembly Hostel here earlier to draw the party's roadmap for the panchayat elections.
"As per a decision taken at the meeting, all the LAC committees have been directed to convene sessions of their extended executives between January 3 and January 6 to assess and analyse preparations for the panchayat polls, especially taking into account the recent delimitation. Feedback will also be taken on the occasion from the participants in the presence of our central observers. Review of the membership drive will also be done at the extended executive deliberations," said the AGP vice president.
AGP president Bora has asked all the observers to submit reports about the progress of the membership drive.
Asked about the likelihood of formal seat-sharing with the other NDA constituents at the AP and ZP levels where the elections would be held using party symbols, Bhattacharjee said, "We shall maintain the coalition dharma and do our best to coordinate activities with our partners. One of our primary focuses will be to defeat the Congress and its allies. Based on the performance of the NDA State government in Assam during the last eight-and-half- years, we are very optimistic about the outcome of the panchayat polls. The AGP is trying to reach out to the last individual. Our party was earlier in power in Assam for two terms and being the largest regional party of the State, we have a strong presence in most of the districts."
He said that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has called a meeting on January 3 which will be attended by all the MPs and MLAs of the NDA constituents in Assam.
"The meeting will deliberate on the panchayat elections, apart from reviewing the government's social welfare schemes and assess their impact on the citizens and discuss ways to make the projects even more inclusive," Bhattacharjee said
- By Pranjal Bhuyan
