AGP plans out agitation against citizenship bill

GUWAHATI: BJP's ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) will step up its protests against the BJP-sponsored Citizenship (Amendment) Bill with a series of protests.
"We will launch a series of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which endorses citizenship for migrants from neighbouring countries on the basis of their religion. We may be BJP's ally in the government, but the bill goes against our Constitution. We will continue to oppose it," senior AGP leader Manoj Saikia said.

AGP recently staged a massive protest rally in the city to oppose the bill and threatened to leave the alliance with BJP if the bill were passed in Parliament.

AGP has successfully lobbied against the bill by gaining support from Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena. In the 126-member Assam assembly, AGP has 14 seats while Bodoland People's Front (the third member of the ruling coalition) has 12. BJP has 61 seats.

In the upcoming panchayat election, likely to be held before December 15 this year, the migrant issue will be one of the key planks for AGP. "The problem of illegal migrants is at the centre of our concerns at the moment. We will also raise other local issues during our campaign," Saikia said.

The divide over the issue between the allies is evident in the AGP going it alone in the rural polls. "We have decided to contest the panchayat polls alone to strengthen our grassroots. Our central general council meeting has asked the district units to start preparing for the rural elections," Saikia said.