Barring last-minute hiccups, the Asom Gana Parishad is almost certain to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Lok Sabha polls. It is awaiting a formal decision by the saffron party.
Though AGP leaders declined to make any official comment, a senior leader, on the condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that the regional party had decided to forge an alliance with the BJP and enter into a seat-sharing agreement for the general election despite the BJP State unit’s opposition.
The saffron party’s State unit feels that since the AGP has lost its support base, it should fight the election on its own and consolidate its support base. The offer, the senior leader added, first came from a central leader of the BJP.
“We now have to work out the seat sharing formula and we hope it will be worked out soon.”
He said that the two parties had several rounds of informal discussions in Delhi and that four leaders had been entrusted with the responsibility to hold the final rounds of talks with top central BJP leaders.
The two parties fought the 2009 general election together, with the AGP winning one seat and the BJP four.
The AGP central executive body has authorised its president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and working president Atul Bora to take the final call on electoral alliances.
