Assam Assembly Election | I stand firm with anti-CAA forces: Mahant

Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said he has not denied his stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

He is among the four MLAs of the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), who have been denied tickets for the three-phase Assam election beginning on March 27.

After reaching Guwahati on March 6 from New Delhi, Mahant said, “I stand firmly with the anti-CAA forces, where he was treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The two-time chief minister is the founding president of AGP, a minor ally of the BJP in the state. The party won 26 seats in New Delhi on 5 March following a seat-sharing agreement with the BJP and other allies.

“Which party denied the ticket?” When the reporters asked why he was released, he backed down.

This has intensified speculation that he may contest on the AGP-Pragatisheel (AGP-P) ticket.

AGP-P was formed in 2005 by Mr. Mahant following his expulsion from AGP. The party merged with the AGP in 2008 but was revived at a low key during anti-CAA protests three years earlier.

AGP-P general secretary Pranab Goswami said on 6 March that the party had become active again before the assembly elections and that they were waiting for Mr Mahanta to lead them towards forming an “anti-CAA government”.

Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, wife of Mr. Mahanta and former member of Rajya Sabha, pulled the AGP for allowing saffron color to dominate its regional color. “A regional party has knelt in New Delhi for the first time in the history of Assam,” she said.

BJP benefited

From the assembly seats from which four AGP MLAs have gone to BJP.

The BJP has fielded Jeetu Goswami in Mr. Mahant’s constituency Barhampur for almost three decades.

The other three AGP MLAs dropped are Utpal Dutta (Lakhimpur), Naren Sonowal (Naharkatiya) and Satyabrata Kalita (Kamalpur).

These three seats went to the new faces of BJP – Manab Deka, Taranga Gogoi and Digant Kalita respectively.

In return, the AGP got two seats from where the BJP won in 2016. These are Raha in central Assam and Chabua in eastern Assam.

Of the 126 seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly, 47 will go to polls in the first phase on March 27. Voting on 39 will be held in the second phase on 1 April and in the third and final phase on 40 April.