The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leadership on April 12 ruled out any chance of going with the proposed third front in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The regional party, who is a part of the ruling NDA in Assam, said that they are not planning to break apart and will continue to be a part of the BJP-led coalition.
AGP president Atul Bora on April 12 said that they are a part of the NDA and it will continue to be so. “We are already a part of the NDA in the centre and under such circumstances there is no point of joining the third front or whatever,” Bora, who also holds the portfolio of agriculture ministry, told media persons at the party headquarters in Guwahati on April 12.
Several regional leaders like Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee initiated the move to form a non-BJP, non-Congress third front called the ‘federal front’ for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier, the regional party was said to be weighing its options to go all alone in the coming panchayat elections in the state.
Speaking about the panchayat polls, Bora said that the regional party will go all alone only if the grass-root workers decide so. “We have already witnessed a huge participation during our booth-level meeting at Khanapara. Our decision will be influenced by their wish,” Bora said.
On the expansion of ministry in the Assam cabinet, the current agriculture minister said that his party demands at least two ministerial berths after the expansion.
“We want it to happen sooner. And having said that as an ally, we need two ministerial berths,” Bora said. At present, there are two ministers from the AGP in the state cabinet. Besides Bora, Keshav Mahanta is holding the portfolio of water resources, information technology and science and technology ministries.
