News Analysis India

Tag: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta

  • Assam polls: After snub from party, ex-CM Mahanta decides not to enter the fray

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Denied ticket by his party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), two-time former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has decided against contesting the upcoming Assam elections, his wife and former MP Jayashree Goswami Mahanta said.

    “He has taken a decision not to contest the polls but he will keep working for the cause of regionalism,” she said. “He is hurt that the AGP leadership sold off regional sentiment to a national political party,” she added.

    The Bahrampur MLA Mahanta, 68, returned from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi last week after undergoing treatment.

    He has been serving as a legislator since 1985. In his Bahrampur seat in Central Assam, which he has been representing since 1991, the AGP is not contesting. The party offered the seat to ally BJP as part of their seat-sharing understanding.

    Apart from Mahanta, the AGP also denied tickets to MLAs Utpal Dutta (Lakhimpur), Naren Sonowal (Naharkatiya), and Satyabrata Kalita (Kamalpur). They are now weighing options.

    Last week, the leaders of AGP (Progressive) or AGP-P, which Mahanta had floated in 2005 protesting his expulsion by the AGP leadership but later merged with the parent party, met the veteran leader, triggering speculations that he might contest as its candidate.

    ALSO READ | Congress polarised Assam’s poll atmosphere by aligning with AIUDF: Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

    After falling out with the AGP leadership, some leaders had walked out of the party over a period of time and formed an organisation called Asom Sangrami Mancha. They are now trying to revive AGP-P and contest the elections.

    The AGP was born out of the six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation which ended with the signing of the historic Assam Accord in 1985 between the then Rajiv Gandhi government and the All Assam Students’ Union. Mahanta, AGP’s founder-president, got increasingly cornered in the party for his opposition to the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

    The Assam Accord says the immigrants, irrespective of their faith, who entered Assam after March 24 (midnight), 1971 have to detected and deported. But the CAA seeks to protect the non-Muslim immigrants who entered India till December 31, 2014. Mahanta could not accept it and he kept voicing his protest against it within and outside the AGP platform. His posture, however, only took him further away from the party leadership.

    The AGP first rose to power in 1985 riding on a strong anti-immigrant public sentiment. Then aged 33, Mahanta became the youngest CM. His second term (1996-2001) was marked by “secret killings”.

    It was a dark period in Assam’s history. Masked gunmen would swoop down on villages and kill the family members and relatives of rebels of the United Liberation Front of Asom or ULFA.

  • Ex-CM Mahanta’s traditional seat given to BJP considering ‘winning possibility’: AGP

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a constituent of the ruling BJP-led coalition in Assam, on Sunday said that Barhampur, the traditional seat of former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, was allotted to the saffron party this time considering his “winning possibility” from there.

    Mahanta, an MLA since 1985, won the Barhampur constituency in Nagaon district for six consecutive terms since 1991.

    The seat has now gone to the BJP which selected Jitu Goswami to contest the Assembly polls from there.

    “There is no conspiracy in giving Barhampur to the BJP. We considered the winning prospect of a seat. We have to see whether the NDA is going to win a seat or not,” AGP president Atul Bora said at a press conference here.

    When asked if Mahanta, the founder president of the AGP, is unlikely to win Barhampur this time, Bora said that the “decision was made after a discussion”.

    The AGP chief also refused to say whether Mahanta was taken into confidence before handing over the seat to the BJP.

    Asked if Mahanta’s open opposition to the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act was a reason he did not get the seat he is holding for three decades, Bora said, “That was not a factor. His health was one issue.”

    Following the announcement of the Barhampur seat going to the BJP, Mahanta’s followers staged protests and a process has gained momentum to revive the AGP-Progressive, a defunct breakaway faction of the AGP.

    Sources said that Mahanta has been in discussion with the Congress leadership in Guwahati over joining the opposition’s Grand Alliance led by the party.

    Besides Barhampur, the Lakhimpur seat where Mahanta’s confidante Utpal Dutta is MLA, and the Kamalpur constituency which was held by AGP MLA Satyabrat Kalita, were also allotted to the BJP.

    The saffron party on March 5 released its first list of 70 candidates for the Assam assembly polls.

    The three-phased elections for the 126-member Assam assembly will be held on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

  • Assam polls: Prafulla Mahanta loyalists urge him to lead them 

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s stand against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) proved costly as he lost the ticket to BJP, but apparently, the game is not yet over.

    The leaders of an erstwhile faction of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) approached him to lead them.

    The onus will now be on the ailing AGP founder-president and Assam Agitation leader to make a choice, whether to continue his political struggle or simply hang up his boots.

    The AGP, which is in alliance with the BJP, has officially given the Bahrampur seat to the BJP. The BJP’s Jitu Goswami will contest from the seat which Mahanta has held since 1985 when the AGP had wrested power from the Congress after the six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation.

    Mahanta’s political future is now in the realms of speculations. He returned to Guwahati from New Delhi on Friday evening after undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

    ALSO READ | Assam elections: Asom Gana Parishad faction being revived, thanks to CAA

    A delegation of AGP (Progressive) or AGP-P met him on Saturday and expressed solidarity with him.

    “He (Mahanta) is still with the AGP. The AGP leadership sold off his Bahrampur seat to the BJP by misusing power. We told him that we are with him. The people of Assam are with him. We told him that he can consider joining the AGP-P,” AGP-P general secretary Pranab Goswami told this newspaper.

    He said Mahanta listened to the delegation but did not make any commitment.

    The AGP-P was Mahanta’s brainchild. He floated it in September 2005 in protest against his expulsion by the party although it got assimilated into the AGP, along with some other splinter factions, in 2008.

    Goswami and several other former AGP leaders had earlier formed the Asom Sangrami Mancha and kept voicing protests against the CAA. They are now trying to revive AGP-P and contest the polls.

    “I stand firmly with the anti-CAA forces,” Mahanta, who has been all along with a critic of the CAA, had told journalists on Friday evening.

    He got cornered in the AGP due to his criticism of the party leadership for maintaining a double standard on the issue. The AGP leadership asserts the party is opposed to CAA but it has continued its support to the state’s BJP-led government, of which it is a constituent.

  • Assam elections: Asom Gana Parishad faction being revived, thanks to CAA

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: An erstwhile faction of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is being revived in Assam by some former AGP leaders who stand opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

    The AGP (Progressive) or AGP-P, which got assimilated into the parent party along with some other splinter factions of the party in 2008, is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections.

    The AGP-P was the brainchild of two-time former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. He had floated it in September 2005 in protest against his expulsion by the party.

    Despite being the AGP’s founder-president, he has remained cornered in the AGP for the past few years. Speculations are rife the AGP will not field him this election. He has been representing the Barhampur seat since 1985. He is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

    “At the request of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he (Mahanta) had helped the BJP make an entry into Assam but it betrayed him. The BJP clipped his wings after rising to power as he stood firm against the CAA,” AGP-P general secretary Pranab Goswami told this newspaper.

    Goswami and several other former AGP leaders had earlier formed the Asom Sangrami Mancha and kept voicing protests against the CAA.

    “Two days ago, we took a decision that we should contest the elections. We had written to all parties, opposed to the CAA, to be united and contest the elections together,” he said.

    He said they held a discussion with the Congress on Thursday and if everything goes well, they might join the Congress-led grand alliance.

    “We are getting a good response. People want us to contest from a good number of seats but we are focused on 15 seats,” Goswami said.

    “He (Mahanta) is still with the AGP. We heard he is returning to Assam from Delhi today (Friday). He will decide his future course of action,” the AGP-P leader added.

  • PM Modi meets family of ailing Assam ex-CM Mahanta, wishes for his speedy recovery

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met the family of ailing former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and wished a speedy recovery for the leader, sources said on Friday.

    Mahanta was airlifted to the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on Thursday after he complained of uneasiness, according to a close aide.

    Mahanta is suffering from gastritis and high pressure but is now stable, his aide had said.

    “Prime Minister Modi met Joyasree Goswami Mahanta (wife of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta) and their son at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg,” a source said.

    The prime minister enquired about the health of Mahanta and wished a speedy recovery for him, the source said.

    Mahanta, 68, was admitted to a private hospital in Guwahati in January after he had complained of chest pain and high blood pressure.

    He was also admitted to a hospital in September.

    The former student leader, who steered the six-year-long Assam agitation against illegal migrants, is currently an MLA from the Baharampur assembly constituency, which he has won for five consecutive terms since 1991.

    Mahanta led the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to power twice in 1985 and 1996.

    His first government was dismissed and the President’s Rule was imposed in the state but he completed his second term and lost to the Congress in 2001.

  • Former Assam CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta airlifted to AIIMS Delhi after complaining of uneasiness

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam’s former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was airlifted to AIIMS-Delhi on Thursday after he complained of uneasiness, according to his close aide Dhruba Sarma.

    Mahanta is suffering from gastritis and high pressure but is now stable, said Sarma.

    A regular check-up will be done and his family members are with him, he said.

    Mahanta, 68, was admitted to a private hospital in Guwahati in January after he had complained of chest pain and high blood pressure.

    He was also rushed to a hospital in September.

    The former student leader, who steered the six-year- long Assam agitation against illegal migrants, is currently an MLA from the Baharampur assembly constituency, which he has won for five consecutive terms since 1991.

    Mahanta led the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to power twice in 1985 and 1996 with his first government dismissed and President’s Rule imposed in the state but he completed his second term and lost to the Congress in 2001.

    He was the president of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that spearheaded the Assam movement against illegal foreigners in the state, leading to the signing of the historic Assam Accord, of which he was a signatory.

    He along with the then AASU leaders went on to form the AGP, which wrested power in the state, making Mahanta the country’s youngest chief minister at 33.