Atul Bora accuses present leadership of ‘hammering the last nail’ in AASU’s coffin

KALIABOR: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president and state agriculture minister Atul Bora today harped on the same tune with his ministerial colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP calling All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) a political organisation.

He said the AASU no longer existed as an apolitical organisation “after its present leadership buried its character two gauges deep in the ground”.

Without naming the AASU, Bora said in an AGP Jatiya Aikya Samaroh here: “There existed an apolitical organisation. Keshab Mahanta, myself, Moni Madhab Mahanta and many others were once part of it. We loved that organisation. We took pride in it because of its contributions towards every single regional issue of the state.

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“But the present leadership of the organisation, who accuse us of hammering the last nail in AGP’s coffin because of our alliance with the BJP, has actually hammered the last nail in that organisation’s coffin. They have also buried the coffin two gauges deep in the ground. The organisation’s leadership today speak the language of a political party (Assam Jatiya Parishad) they have floated.”

The AGP, which is also an offshoot of the AASU, defends its alliance with the BJP stating that it was safeguarding the interests of the people of the state by being part of the government. The AASU became critical of the AGP after it had reportedly voted in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019.

Although Bora, water resources minister Mahanta and food and civil supplies minister Phani Bhusan Choudhury had resigned from the state government in the wake of the anti-CAA protests, they rejoined the government once the agitation subsided due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bora also accused the new regional parties, such as AJP, Raijor Dal, Anchalik Gana Morcha etc, of trying to “eliminate the AGP” as a regional force because of its alliance with the ruling BJP.

“Do you remember the names of some new regional political parties? Better not to remember those names! They are not regional forces. They are a handful of power hungry people who want the Congress to rule Assam again with their support. Their primary objective is to eliminate AGP and nothing else.”