Two-time chief minister and an MLA continuously since 1985, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta will not contest the forthcoming Assembly polls in Assam, his wife revealed on Monday, potentially signalling the end of the road for one of the state바카라™s most influential mass leaders.
바카라śWe are lucky to have served the people of Assam바카라¦It바카라™s something many people dream of but few actually achieve,바카라ť Mahanta바카라™s wife Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, a former Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters.
Mahanta, 68, has not been keeping well for some time but the real reason for his political 바카라śsanyas바카라ť is believed to be the decision of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) not to give him the party ticket from Barhampur, a constituency he has represented for a long time. Under a seat-sharing arrangement, the AGP vacated the seat to its senior partner, the BJP.
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 바카라świnning possibility바카라ť
from there.
바카라śThere 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 on Sunday.
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, 바카라śThat was not a factor. His health was one issue.바카라ť
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.
Mahanta had founded the AGP after leading the six-year-long anti-foreigner agitation which ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985. Ironically, the BJP had totally hijacked the contentious issue of 바카라śillegal infiltration바카라ť in 2016 which helped the party wrest political control of the state for the first time.
Of late, Mahanta was said to be contemplating breaking away from the AGP to float his own faction as he was being increasingly sidelined by a party which is finding hard to stay relevant in the face of the BJP바카라™s brand of aggressive nationalism.
