BJP Assam unit chief says, ex-ally AGP leaving coalition will not impact in polls

Exuding confidence in winning the most number of Lok Sabha seats in Assam, the BJP Tuesday said Asom Gana Parishad pulling out of the ruling coalition will have no impact. BJP's state unit chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass also threatened the Congress and Akhil Gogoi's Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, saying that the party has 27 lakh workers and nobody should provoke it. "In 2014, we fought alone and won seven seats. Today we have a partnership with BPF. Also, Rabha, Twa, Sonowal and other indigenous groups have allied with us. So, AGP leaving us will not affect and we will get 11 seats," Dass said.

As Asom Gana Parishad or AGP walked out of the NDA, the BJP is now left with the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) and the sole Independent MLA in the assembly as allies in the state. On the 11-hour Northeast shut down over the Citizenship Bill, Dass said BJP's office in Golaghat was vandalised and alleged that it was the handiwork of Congress workers. "We warn the Congress and the KMSS that do not provoke us. We have 27 lakh workers, we are in the government, we won in panchayat polls. If any untoward situation happens, then the Congress and the KMSS will be responsible," he said.

The All Assam Students' Union has every right to raise their voice on the Citizenship Bill and Assam Accord as they were one of the signatories after leading the six-year-long agitation from 1979 to 1985, he told a press conference. "But what did the Congress do? Why Akhil Gogoi is shouting? He was just a three-year-old child (at that time). The Congress and the KMSS have no right to talk about the Bill," he said. On the recently formed nine-member committee by the Centre, Dass demanded that 1951 be made as the base year for the definition of Assamese to provide safeguards under the Clause-6 of the Accord.