Asom Gana Parishad
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Asom Gana Parishad | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | AGP |
Bhrigu Kumar Phukan Biraj Kumar Sarma | |
Founded | 14 October 1985 |
Headquarters | AGP Complex, Gopinath Bordoloi Road, Ambari, Guwahati - 781001 |
Student wing | Asom Chatra Parishad |
Youth wing | Asom Yuva Parishad |
Women's wing | Asom Mahila Parishad |
Peasant's wing | Asom Krishak Parishad |
Ideology | Secularism[1] Regionalism Historical: |
Centre-right | |
ECI Status | State Party[4] |
Alliance | NEDA(2016-2019),(2019-Present) NDA(2016-2019),(2019-Present) |
Seats in Lok Sabha | 0 / 543 |
Seats in Rajya Sabha | 1 / 245 |
Seats in Assam Legislative Assembly | 8 / 126 |
Election symbol | |
Elephant | |
Asom Gana Parishad (translation: Assam People's Council, abbr. AGP) is a political party in the state of Assam, India. The AGP was formed following the historic Assam Accord of 1985[5] and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13 to 14 October 1985 in Golaghat,[6] which also allowed Prafulla Kumar Mahanta who was the youngest chief minister of the state to be elected. The AGP has formed government twice once in 1985 then again in 1996. The popularity of AGP surged in the late 1980s but declined in the 2000s.[7]
The party split in 2005, with former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta forming the
The party won 14 seats out of 126 in the 2016 Legislative Assembly Elections; a historic win for the party. It shares power with the Bodoland People's Front and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Currently it is a part of
History
AGP was a result of a six-year-long civil unrest in Assam, known as The
In 1979, AASU led what started as a nonviolent campaign to highlight illegal immigration into the state, but later descended into violence. The AASU, joined by the AGSP demanded detection and disenfranchisement of all illegal migrants in the state, and deportation of all immigrants entering the country from 1951 on under the laws of the land. One of the most serious outcomes of the ethnic violence that ensued came to be known as the Nellie massacre when anti-immigrant groups attacked and killed at least 2,000 Muslim, Bengali immigrants.[11] The agitation lasted from 1979 to 1985, and caused tension and hostility during the assembly Election in 1983.
AASU then constituted the
Several rounds of discussions with successive governments in New Delhi. The accord was signed between the government, represented by prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and representatives of the AASU.
The State Assembly was then dissolved and the Congress government headed by Hiteswar Saikia, who came to power in February 1983, was dismissed.
The Golaghat National Convention, held in Golaghat on 13–14 October 1985 determined that a regional political party similar to Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) should be formed and the Asom Gana Parishad was launched in Golaghat on 14 October 1985.
The central executive committee of the
The AGP contested the State Assembly elections held in December 1985 and swept the polls by winning 67 of the 126 seatsin addition to capturing seven of the 14 Lok Sabha (Parliament) seats thus forming the Government of Assam. The party won the election and formed a government again in 1996.
Party leader
AGP
The party began losing ground in the 2010s; from 67 seats in the assembly in 1985 and 59 in 1996, the AGP's strength in the assembly came down to 14 seats in 2016.
Internal splits and mergers
The AGP in March 1991 underwent a split when party general secretary and former
In 2000, former Assam
After the second AGP Government's reign under
In 2008, a process started to reconcile the differences among all the breakaway fractions and to bring back everybody under the mother party umbrella to strengthen the regional party movement in
Splits from AGP
In 2011, firebrand youth leader Sarbananda Sonowal resigned from all executive posts within AGP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, due to dissatisfaction with and amongst the senior leadership of the party who were trying to forge an alliance with a party that was against the scrapping of the controversial IMDT Act. "The AGP was born out of the illegal foreigners' issue after the six-year-long Assam agitation; 855 people laid down their lives in the agitation. However, the party has failed to honor the sacrifice of the martyrs by deviating from its principles. But I have no grievances against the dedicated grassroots-level workers. Since the AGP has failed to tackle the illegal migrants' problem, I've joined the BJP keeping in mind the interest of the people of Assam and the fact that I'll be able to highlight the problems and issues of the state at the national level," Sonowal, the former AGP general secretary, said.
On 8 February 2011, Sonowal joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of the then BJP National President Nitin Gadkari and senior leaders like Varun Gandhi, Vijay Goel, Bijoya Chakravarty and state BJP president Ranjit Dutta. He was immediately appointed a member of the BJP National Executive and then later on State Spokesperson of the state BJP unit, prior to his current assignment to head the state as the new president.
Again on 3 July 2013, senior party leader Atul Bora once again left the party and joined BJP.
2016-present
In May 2016, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led
In November 2016, Atul Bora was elected for President of Asom Gana Parishad second time amending party's constitution ‘one man one post’ as he is also minister of Agriculture, Horticulture and Food Processing, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary in Sarbananda Sonowal Ministry.[14]
In January 2019, they broke an alliance with
List of chief ministers
No.[a] | Name | Portrait | Constituency | Term of office[17] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
From | To | Days in office | ||||
1 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | Nowgong
|
24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 4 years, 339 days | |
Barhampur
|
15 May 1996 | 17 May 2001 | 5 years, 2 days |
Members in Rajya Sabha
- Birendra Prasad Baishya
- Bhadreswar Buragohain
- Bijoya Chakravarty
- Parag Chaliha
- Kumar Deepak Das
- David Ledger
- Dr. Jayashree Goswami Mahanta
- Dr. Nagen Saikia
- Dr. Arun Kumar Sarmah
Members in Lok Sabha
- Parag Chaliha
- Dinesh Goswami
- Gakul Saikia
- Muhi Ram Saikia
- Bhadreswar Tanti[18]
- Prabin Chandra Sarmah
- Keshab Mahanta
- Dr. Arun Kumar Sarmah
- Birendra Prasad Baishya
- Sarbananda Sonowal
- Joseph Toppo
See also
- Golaghat Convention
- Natun Asom Gana Parishad
- Assamese Language Movement
- Nellie Massacre
- National Register of Citizens for Assam.
- List of political parties in India
Notes
- ^ A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
References
- ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/agp-slams-anti-secular-stand-of-bjp/articleshow/32342272.cms
- ^ Dipak Kumar Sarma. "Negotiating Factionalism: The case of the Asom Gana Parishad" (PDF). Dipak Kumar Sarma.
- ^ Dipak Kumar Sarma – Research Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam (February 2012). "Different Paradigm on Factional Politics: Reference to Asom Gana Parishad". Centre for Environment, Education and Economic Development (CEEED), Assam.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- JSTOR 2644315.
- ^ Indranil Banerjie (17 January 2014). "Birth of AGP leads to Assam being divided into two irreconcilable camps". India Today.
- ^ "Assam in the late 1980s and gives an analysis of the rise and decline of AGP in the 2000s".
- The Telegraph. Archived from the originalon 1 April 2018.
- ^ Singh, Bikash. "Asom Gana Parishad to contest assembly polls in alliance with BJP". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ Official Website Archived 9 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- JSTOR 26906198.
- ^ a b "How BJP has reduced AGP, leading party of Assamese aspiration, into a crumbling hanger-on". The Print. 7 March 2021.
- ^ HT Correspondent (25 May 2016). "Amit Shah holds meeting with northeast CMs, forms alliance". Hindustan Times.
- ^ Atul Bora AGP president for second term
- ^ BJP, AGP back together after 2-month divorce
- ^ AGP to fight Lok Sabha polls with BJP in Assam
- ^ Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website
- ^ "Members : Lok Sabha". loksabha.nic.in. Retrieved 18 January 2021.