GUWAHATI, March 13 - Former Chief Minister and AGP founder president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today expressed his disappointment over his party�s decision to renew its alliance with the BJP.
�I have always been frank on the matter. I am not one to mince words. I have been opposing it from the very beginning,� Mahanta told The Assam Tribune, when asked about his opinion regarding last evening�s announcement by the BJP and the AGP to renew their alliance.
Mahanta said that he had opposed the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, since its inception, as the Bill, had it been implemented, would have violated the Assam Accord.
�The BJP has not been able to fulfil any of the promises made by it,� said the former Chief Minister.
Asked if he will discuss the issue with other leaders of the AGP, Mahanta said, �I do not want to hold any discussion on the issue within the party.�
To a query regarding his likely course of action, Mahanta refrained from giving a direct reply, saying, �I want the party to become strong because only a regional party can solve the problems faced by Assam.�
It is noteworthy that in the run-up to yesterday�s decision to renew its ties with the BJP, there were serious differences of opinion within the regional party on the issue. While Mahanta and some other leaders had opposed any renewal of alliance with the BJP, other senior leaders like party president Atul Bora had supported such a course of action.
