BJP’s ally in Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) too has skipped the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in its manifesto for the Assam Assembly elections.
In an apparent move by the AGP, the party decided to skip the issue of implementation of the CAA in its election manifesto, which it released on Wednesday.
However, in a desperate attempt to keep its existence intact, which is under serious threat this Assembly elections in Assam, the AGP ‘promised’ to implement the Assam Accord.
This ‘promise’ of the AGP to implement the Assam Accord and completely ignore the issue of CAA has come under severe criticism.
Many are now questioning the AGP as to how it plans to implement Assam Accord and not oppose the CAA.
The CAA ‘violates’ the very spirit of the Assam Accord.
Pressure groups in Assam are of the view that the CAA contradicts the Assam Accord that prescribes March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting and deporting illegal immigrants.
CAA seeks to fast-track the citizenship of non-Muslims who came from three neighbouring countries till December 31, 2014.
On the other hand, Clause 6 guarantees constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people of Assam.
AGP leaders, while releasing the party manifesto said that the party was firm on implementing the Clause 6 for solving the foreigners’ issue.
It may be mentioned here that the BJP-led Government in Assam, of which the AGP is a part of, failed to implement the Clause 6 report submitted by the high-level committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Also read: Assam Assembly elections: 946 candidates in fray
This failure of the BJP-led Assam Government to implement the Clause 6 report comes despite promises made by top leaders of the saffron party including PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Clause 6 report would be implemented as it was.
Once a party that formed government in Assam, the AGP is contesting only in 26 seats in the Assam Assembly elections in 2021, thanks to its “big brother” the BJP.
The three-phase elections to the 126-member Assembly are on March 27, April 1 and April 6.