Left parties snap ties with AGP

GUWAHATI, April 3: The Left parties' honeymoon with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is finally over as the ruling four-party alliance has broken up following AGP's move to go for poll adjustments with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The ministers belonging to the CPI and the Samajwadi Party in the AGP-led Ministry will formally tender their resignations within a day or two and efforts are on form a new Left-Democratic alliance by the constituents of the Peoples' Front. Talking to The Assam Tribune here today, the president of the Assam unit of the Samajwadi Party and State Irrigation Minister, Abdul Muhib Mazumdar, said that as his party is in favour of maintaining equal distance from the BJP and the Congress, there is no question of staying in an alliance with the AGP. He said that he has already decided to complete the formality of tendering his resignation from the ministry and "I will do so only after receiving the approval of the party president Mulayam Singh Yadav." Commenting on the future course of action of his party, Mazumdar said that the Samajwadi Party was in favour of the constituents of the Peoples' Front at the national level fighting together in Assam. However, he said that his party is committed to fighting the polls together with the United Minorities Front (UMF) and pointed out that the stand of the CPI and the CPM on forging an alliance with the UMF was vague. It may be mentioned here that the State committee secretary of the CPM, Hemen Das, recently termed the UMF as a communal party and Mazumdar, on the other hand, said that the statement was absurd and unfortunate. The secretary of the State unit of the CPM, Hemen Das, commenting on the political developments, said, "We have already made our stand clear that we would maintain equal distance from the BJP and the Congress and since the AGP has gone for poll alliance with the BJP, we have no political relation with the AGP." He said that there was no need for formally announcing the withdrawal from the four-party alliance as "no one can expect us to stay with the AGP after it forged an alliance with a communal and Tehelka-tainted party like the BJP." Das revealed that a meeting of the State Committee of the CPM would be held on April 5, where the future course of action would be chalked out. The meeting will also be attended by CPM politburo member Prakash Karat. He also said that the CPM is in favour of a Left Democratic and Secular alliance minus the Congress. The acting secretary of the State unit of the CPI, Bhogeswar Dutta, said that the four-party alliance has now become irrelevant after the AGP went for a tie-up with the BJP. He said that his party is likely to make the formal announcement of withdrawing from the alliance and resignation from the ministry tomorrow. Dutta said that in the last meeting of the four-party alliance, held on March 25, all the parties decided to maintain equal distance from the BJP and the Congress, and it was also decided that the parties would meet again for seat sharing on April 4 and 5. "However, in between the AGP initiated talks with the BJP for seat adjustments and as defeating the BJP and its allies is our main aim, we are forced to come out of the alliance," he added. The State CPI acting secretary said that a meeting of the Peoples' Front including CPI, CPM, Samajwadi Party, RSP and the JD(S) will be held on April 6 in a bid to forging a Left-Democratic alliance. Replying to a question on the possibility of an alliance between the CPI and Congress, he said that they have not received any feeler from the Congress and "we have not contacted the Congress on our own." He, however, did not rule out the possibility of either a pre-poll or post-poll alliance with the Congress.