Soon after BJP declared that Asom Gana Parishad has joined the NDA and announced a seat-sharing pact between them in Assam, the regional party's chief denied joining the alliance.
Soon after BJP declared on Thursday that Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has joined the NDA and announced a seat-sharing pact between them in Assam, the regional party's
chief denied joining the alliance saying the relationship is confined to sharing of seats only.
Earlier, BJP's leader LK Advani, flanked by AGP chief Chandra Mohan Patowary and NDA chairman Sharad Yadav, said, "We have not been able to convert the polity into a two-party system but have ended the single party rule of four decades.
The AGP's joining the NDA would go a long way in stopping further fragmentation of our polity."
Patowary, however, denied that the regional party has joined the NDA and termed the pact as mere seat sharing arrangement.
"We are not part of NDA. But we will fight elections together to defeat UPA. It is only a seat sharing arrangement with BJP," he said.
Patowary also made it clear that both the parties would have separate manifestos. According to the pact, the BJP will field eight candidates in Guwahati, Nagaon, Mangaldoi, Silchar, Karimganj, Jorhat, Dhubri and Diphu constituencies while the regional party will contest in six seats -- Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kaliabor, Barpeta and Kokrajhar.
Patowary prompted BJP President Rajnath Singh to say that though the saffron would be the major partner for the Lok Sabha elections, the AGP would be the "senior partner" for the assembly polls to be held in 2011.
When asked if the AGP had formally joined the NDA, Singh said, "Of course...they are now part of NDA".
AGP had joined hands with BJP before the 2001 Assembly elections in Assam but parted ways after a defeat in the hands of Congress.
"We believe that the NDA can usher in a change, as Assam's problems have been long ignored by the Congress and UPA. We hope that there will be an end to Congress as we want to see LK Advani as our next prime minister," Patowary said.
Patowary highlighted that Assam, which is surrounded by foreign countries is fast becoming a transit point for "jehadis" and "extremists" and becoming a threat to the
sovereignty of the country.
Advani said the NDA had been "successful" in breaking the four-decade long rule of a single party (Congress) and establishing a "bipolar polity".
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