GUWAHATI, Nov 1 - The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has not yet decided to join any political front. Rather, the regional party is trying to increase its own strength before the next Assembly elections, said party president Atul Bora.
Bora told The Assam Tribune that the AGP has not received any formal letter from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) for an alliance of all the parties barring the Congress and BJP as reported in a section of the media. He said, at present, the main aim of the AGP is to increase its own strength and the matter of forging an alliance with any other party would be discussed in the party forum only later. He, however, admitted that the AGP had preliminary talks with some other regional and Left parties, but no formal decision on any alliance has yet been taken.
The AGP president revealed that the AIUDF is a part of the movement launched by the opposition parties opposing the Centre�s notification on giving shelter to the foreigners who entered India after 1971 due to religious persecution in their own countries. But there was no discussion on any alliance with the AIUDF, he clarified.
On the steps initiated to increase the strength of the AGP, Bora said that public meetings would be held in each of the Assembly constituencies, while, the plan to visit every household of the State received encouraging response in some of the constituencies.
Bora said the process of formation of the constituency- and booth-level committees would be completed by November 30 so that the party would have a good network ready to face the polls. The party is also trying to launch a membership drive all over the State, he added.
Replying to a question as to why senior leaders are leaving the party, Bora said that he was also surprised by the decision of some senior members to join national parties. �The people who have left the AGP had received all the support from the party and they were elected to the Assembly on AGP tickets. The national parties always try to weaken the regional forces and we fail to understand why some of our members fell prey to such traps,� he said.
