Post BJP manifesto, AGP circus continues

Post-BJP manifesto, where the CAB issue was dominant and large, the circus of the Asom Gana Parishad(AGP) continues giving a lot of laughter amongst the Assamese voters.

A hapless AGP, sandwiched between the hunger of money by a section of leader and survival, today managed to put out a feeble sentence that they would continue to oppose the CAB.

With the BJP reiterating its commitment to enact the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill the AGP said, "The BJP's manifesto has not stated anything new and only reiterated its earlier stand. However, we also remain firm in our opposition to CAB and will oppose any attempt to bring back the Bill," Ramendra Narayan Kalita, general secretary of AGP said.

In its manifesto –the BJP stated, "We are committed to the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Bill for the protection of individuals of religious minority communities from neighbouring countries escaping persecution."

The BJP has so far in Assam avoided mentioning the CAB issue. Their strategy is to keep their mouth shut till the afternoon of 11th, when voting will be over and it will go to the second phase where pro CAB stance is important to win the Bengali Hindu dominated Barak valley voters. That was the reason why April 6 meeting of the Prime Minister at Silchar was postponed to April 11 so that first phase is finished smoothly.

Kalita said that the AGP has not moved from its stand regarding the CAB. "We will not compromise on the issue. That has been made clear time and again. In our manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, which will be released shortly, we will definitely mention our party's view on CAB," he said.

The AGP leader claimed that BJP's decision to make CAB a part of its manifesto will not create any confusion among the alliance partners. "It will also have no impact on our electoral prospects in the parliamentary polls," he said.