Guwahati, Mar 16 : The politics of alliance has made an appearance in Assam for the first time in Lok Sabha polls with the opposition parties busy getting hitched to other political parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The alliance between the opposition Asom Gana Parishad and the BJP has evoked much interest as they came together for the first time in a Lok Sabha election, though they had fought together in the 2001 Asembly elections.
However, in the 2006 Assembly elections the parties had gone their separate ways.
This time the BJP central leadership and AGP top brass finally decided after a long-drawn discussion that in the parliamentary polls, the national party would get an upper hand contesting eight seats while the regional party would fight six.
In the Assembly polls, the arrangement will be different with the AGP to contest the maximum number of seats.
The AGP and BJP had won two seats each in the last Lok Sabha polls. While Dr Arun Sarmah and Sarbananda Sonowal of AGP were elected from Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh respectively, BJP's Narayan Borkotoky won from Mangaldoi and Rajen Gohain from Nagaon.
The ruling Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 2004 Lok Sabha Polls winning nine seats, has decided to contest 13 seats this time leaving the Kokrajhar (ST) parliamentary seat to its coalition partner in the state government--the Bodo Peoples' Front.
The possibility of the emergence of a third front in Assam, comprising Asom United Democratic Front, Nationalist Congress Party, CPM, CPI and Bodo People's Progressive Front, has evoked keen interest.
Talks have been going on for quite sometime between these parties and the final announcement regarding sharing of seats sharing is likely to be made by next week.
The possibility of a third front in Assam's political scenario emerged after the AGP and BJP entered into a seat-sharing adjustment, leaving the other parties in the fray to think on the similar lines too.
The AUDF would be the senior partner of the alliance and so far the parties have reached an unanimity over 11 seats with Nagaon, Kaliabor, Dhubri and Karimganj going to the AUDF, Guwahati and Autnomous Hill Districts to the NCP, Jorhat and Lakhimpur to the CPI, Mangaldoi and Tezpur to the CPI-M and BPPF was all set to get Kokrajhar.
Discussions are on for the other seats and a decision is expected to be reached soon. The polls in Assam would be held in two phases- April 16 and April 23.
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