No more in alliance with Assam Jatiya Parishad: Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi
Sivasagar (Assam), Jul 4: Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Sunday said his party has broken the alliance with regional front Assam Jatiya Parishad, led by former AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
The two newly floated regional parties, which were born out of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act sentiment, had joined hands in February this year and contested the assembly election in March-April. The AJP had drawn a blank and the RD managed one seat with Gogoi winning as an Independent MLA.
"We were not in alliance during the polls. We broke the tie-up in the middle of the election. There was no united opposition platform, and so we parted ways," Gogoi told PTI in an interview.
However, neither of the two parties announced the falling apart of their alliance during the election, although speculation was rife that their association had run into rough weather, especially on the seat selection process.
Out of the total 126 constituencies, the AJP had contested in 83 seats and the RD in 38. In 16 constituencies, both the parties fielded candidates and fought against each other, thereby dividing the anti-CAA votes.
Gogoi walked free on July 1 after 567 days of imprisonment following his arrest in December 2019 for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA movement in Assam, as the National Investigation Agency failed to frame any charge against him and three associates.
Asked why the party did not formally declare the end of the alliance before the polls, the first-time legislator said, "We contested the assembly election alone. As of now, we are not in any alliance with the AJP."
On February 4, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi had met Akhil Gogoi at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for various ailments while being in judicial custody, and announced finalisation of their coming together for the polls.
On whether AJP's decision of nominating too many candidates without consulting the RD derailed the regional alliance, Akhil Gogoi said: "I don't know. I don't want to comment on them. We didn't want to have three poles in the election, but two - BJP and anti-BJP.
But the Congress cheated us by breaking the united front. At that time, we also broke the alliance with the AJP."
The Congress, which was in power for 15 years in Assam since 2001, had formed a 'Grand Alliance' with AIUDF, BPF, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM), RJD, Adivasi National Party (ANP) and Jimochayan (Deori) Peoples Party (JPP) to fight the assembly election against the BJP-led NDA.
"After severing ties with the AJP, I myself appealed to people that they should not vote for our candidates, but vote for only the strongest BJP nominees in the respective seats. Such a thing has never happened in the world that the party president is appealing not to vote for his own party's candidates.
"If we had not done this and kept it a triangular contest, the BJP would have got more seats. Even after so much sacrifice, some people still blame us for dividing anti-BJP votes," Gogoi said.
The BJP had bagged 60 seats, while its allies AGP won nine and UPPL six. In the opposition camp, the Congress bagged 29 seats, AIUDF 16, BPF four and the CPI(M) cornered one seat.
Peasant leader-cum-RTI activist Gogoi's Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and 70 other groups had last year formed the Raijor Dal.
On the other hand, the Assam Jatiya Parishad was jointly created by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and the Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) in 2020.
Gogoi, who contested as an Independent from Sibsagar, became the first Assamese to win an election remaining behind the bars and without any physical campaigning.
He also became the first in the Assam Assembly to take oath on May 21 as a prisoner MLA, arriving from jail on special permission by the court.
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Efforts on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna back to India: Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said efforts are on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexual abuse against women, back to India.
He also asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case was functioning efficiently.
The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women.
The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27 and is still at large.
He was BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls in the first phase on April 26.
"Procedures are on, until we secure him, bring him back here and take action in accordance with law, they will continue. We will neither slow it nor stop it," Parameshwara told reporters on questions about the Interpol's Blue Corner Notice that was issued against Prajwal.
On BJP alleging that the government was "responsible" for Prajwal's "escape" from the country, the Minister said, "They will say it, they have to say such things. They cannot say the government is doing a good job. But we have a responsibility as a government. Such incidents cannot be taken lightly. We will do our job."
Accusing the Congress government of trying to tarnish the reputation of Deve Gowda's family instead of ensuring justice to victims of alleged sex videos scandal case involving Prajwal, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently alleged that every bit of information on the investigation is being sent to a Congress MLA of Mandya district, but not the Home Minister.
Reacting to this, Parameshwara said: "Kumaraswamy is also well aware, several things we cannot bring to the public domain, because the investigation is on. Who will brief the Mandya MLA? Making such allegations is easy. We all have responsibility and we are functioning with responsibility, and we are not under any compulsions."
"I want to tell him (Kumaraswamy) that SIT is working efficiently, and whatever they have to brief me or the Chief Minister, they will brief. Let there be no doubts about it," he said.
