GUWAHATI, March 8 � The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today received yet another jolt in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections as former president of the party, Chandra Mohan Patowary today tendered his resignation from the party. He is scheduled to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 10 along with former Minister Hitendra Nath Goswami. Goswami had resigned from the AGP last month.
Talking to The Assam Tribune after tendering his resignation from the AGP, Patowary said that when he was the president of the party, he had managed to bring those who left the party back to the fold. In the last couple of years, no serious effort was made to keep the party united and no step was taken to bring back those who had left the party, he said and lamented that the AGP has not been able to deal with issues concerning Assam.
Patowary said that he had spoken to the leaders of the BJP to prevent possible division of the non-Congress votes but unfortunately, the tie-up did not succeed.
When asked what prevented the AGP-BJP tie up for the polls, Patowary said, �You will have to ask that to the AGP president.�
On his decision to join the BJP, Patowary said that the party had extended its help during the Assam Agitation and even senior leader Atal Behari Vajpayee addressed a number of meetings in support of the agitation for detection and deportation of foreigners from the State.
Meanwhile, in his resignation letter sent to AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Patowary said that the regional party was formed under special circumstances and it was a platform of revolution on issues concerning Assam. He said that he tried to carry out the responsibilities given to him by the AGP to the best of his abilities. �In recent times, I tried my best to unite the non-Congress forces, but the move did not succeed,� he said.
He also asserted that he would not change his stand on issues like deportation of foreigners and implementation of the Assam Accord.
On the other hand, AGP spokesman Bijon Mahajan, who was earlier the chairman of the legal cell of the party, is also likely to join the BJP soon.
