AGP skips Third Front meeting

New Delhi, February 25: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Tuesday skipped a crucial meeting of 11 non–Congress and non–BJP parties here in Delhi.

The meeting that was called by the Left Parties to chalk out a strategy to form an alternative to Congress and BJP ahead of the LS elections. It was also joined by JD (U), JD (S) SP among others.

“AGP leader Prafulla Mahanta couldn’t come today as his mother is critically ill but he has conveyed that he is with us…the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has also assured us that they are with us,” said CPM general secretary Prakash Karat after the meeting.

BJD’s Navin Patnaik also skipped Tuesday’s meeting.

Name of another AGP leader Biren Baishya was also included in the list of participants. In fact, Baishya had earlier attended similar meeting convened by the four Left parties in the Parliament to form a “non Congress and non BJP block”; but he left for Guwahati on Tuesday morning.

Mahanta’s absence was coincided with the fact that AGP working president Atul Bora has reportedly met BJP’s Assam in–charge SS Aulhwali on Sunday and organizing secretary Ramlal on Monday.

The reported meeting that was kept secret had discussed about the AGP–BJP alliance ahead of the coming election in Assam. If insiders in both the parties are to be believed, there is every possibility of a pre–poll alliance ‘if both the parties come to a seat sharing adjustments.”

“There is every possibility of an alliance with other political parties ahead of the election. But as far as alliance with the AGP is concerned, nothing has been finalized till date,” said BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javdekar.

The central leadership of the BJP is also aware of the fact that a majority section of Assam unit of the party are against any such alliance with the AGP.

(Source)The Sentinel — The Largest Media group of North-East India — focused on news publishing. Combined circulation of the group is over 120,000 newspapers per day, making it the largest newspaper group in the region. The Sentinel is the only English daily in the Northeast India with five editions published simultaneously from Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Shillong, Silchar and Itanagar. For all local, national and international news please visit http://www.sentinelassam.com/