After AGP exit, BPF speaks out against bill

GUWAHATI: Two days after the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) walked out of its alliance with BJP in the Assam government, the saffron party's other ally Bodoland People's Front (BPF) came out in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the contentious amendment that has put BJP in a spot in the northeastern region.

After months of protesting against the bill, which proposes citizenship for migrants belonging to religious minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, AGP had left the alliance on Monday after a final attempt to talk BJP out of pushing the bill ahead. Hailing AGP's decision, BPF leader Pramila Rani Brahma, a minister in the Assam cabinet, said, "AGP's decision was the right one. It was the call of the hour. They heeded the voice of the people they represent."

While protests against the bill have gripped the state sporadically for months now, BPF has not been very vocal about its stand on the bill. However, with the Lok Sabha passing the bill on Tuesday, BJP finds itself in a tough spot with its allies in the northeastern region - almost all of whom have spoken out in unequivocal terms against the bill.

The firebrand Bodo leader said it is for BPF president Hagrama Mohilary to say where the party stands, but she is opposed to the fallout of the bill if it ends up affecting Bodo-inhabited areas. "The Bodoland Territorial Council will not take on any additional burden as a fallout of the bill. No one can impose anything on us. If necessary, we will stand against the bill," she said.

Later in the day, the three leaders from AGP, including party president Atul Bora, who were part of the Assam cabinet submitted their resignations as ministers to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal here. The two other AGP leaders who quit are former water resources minister Keshab Mahanta and former food and civil supplies minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury.

Soon after stepping down, the three AGP leaders went to the All Assam Students' Union office, where they held a meeting with the student leaders on the unrest in the state.