Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Gaining people�s faith biggest challenge for AJP, says Bhuyan

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Sept 19 - Gaining faith of the people will be the biggest challenge for Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), admitted Jagadish Bhuyan, the State coordinator of the new regional party. He also said that the party would have to chalk out a detailed action plan for the benefit of all sections of people, including students.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Bhuyan said that the decision to have a permanent committee to maintain a strict vigil of the activities of the party would be a game changer and whoever takes leadership of the AJP would not be able to deviate from its policies.

Bhuyan, who has the experience of working with both the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said that the AJP would be a party with a difference. He said that after the AGP lost three successive elections, he had requested the party leadership to reorganise the party and to go back to the grassroots to get the views of the people.

But the leadership of the AGP did not pay heed to his suggestions and sidelined him. He then joined the BJP hoping that the party would fulfil the promise of solving the problem of infiltration of foreigners. But instead of solving the problem, the party tried to give citizenship to a section of foreigners by bringing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which forced him to leave the party.

A former minister, Bhuyan said there is a vast difference between a regional party and a national party. In a national party, every decision is taken by the central leadership sitting in Delhi and the state leaders have very little say, he said.

�The central leaders, who are not aware about the ground situation, take all the decisions right from policy matters to selection of candidates to contest the polls,� he said.

The AGP after becoming an ally of the BJP also alienated itself from the masses and went on to support the CAA despite the fact that the Act would pose a serious threat to the identity of the indigenous people, he said.

Replying to a question as to why the people would have faith on a party backed by the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) considering the fact that former leaders of the organisations had formed the AGP and even the present government has three former AASU presidents in the ministry, Bhuyan admitted that gaining the trust of the people would be a major challenge and the party would have to prove its intentions with its activities.

Bhuyan also said that a large number of supporters of regionalism are fed up with the activities of the AGP. Even some members of the AGP left the party and are now sitting idle, while some members of the party are inactive because they do not support the activities of the present leaders of the party. All these members may join the AJP in the coming days, he added.

Next Story