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Coalition of compulsion
Updated:
Updated:
March 16, 2021 22:30 IST
The BJP has been deepening its presence in Assam, making the regional parties more and more dependent on it
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The BJP has been deepening its presence in Assam, making the regional parties more and more dependent on it
The BJP’s ability to forge alliances with prominent regional parties during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections enables it to win votes from wide segments of society with the exception of the bulk of Muslim votes. In Assam, for the coming election, the BJP gave up its alliance with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and chose to ally with the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) apart from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Key leaders including the only sitting MLA from the Ganashakti Party joined the BJP.
Photograph by Surajit Sharma outlookindia.com 2021-03-19T13:37:03+05:30
Curious things happen in politics stranger than leaders switching sides to embrace ideologically opposite parties. But Golaghat constituency in Assam presents a picture bordering on the bizarre. MLA Ajanta Neog is the BJP candidate for the seat and she is up against a familiar foe, Bitopan Saikia of the Congress. That is not the story. In 2016, Neog was the Congress candidate and Saikia was with the BJP. Neog joined the BJP recently and was named the Golaghat candidate. A miffed Saikia found a new home in the Congress. Golaghat is a sub-plot in the unfolding theatre in Assam Elections 2021. But it gives an idea about the political churning: the ruling BJP is luring ‘winnable’ leaders while opposition parties are hedging their bet on ‘discards’. Even that is not the entire story. Five years after winning Assam a traditional Congress stronghold for the first time, the BJP is facin