The decision of former two-time Assam Chief Minister and former Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to not contest the 2021 Assembly Elections from the Barhampur constituency has made many of his supporters and well-wishers sad.
Mahanta, who was first elected to the state Assembly in 1985 from the Nowgong constituency, has been elected from the Barhampur constituency for a record six times since 1991.
However, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ‘took away’ the said constituency from its ally AGP, Mahanta decided to withdraw from the elections.
“Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has been a stalwart of regionalism in Assam. You may like him or you may dislike him but the fact remains that it was only him from the AGP who has been voicing strongly against the wrong policies of the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government in the state,” said Dibakar Medhi, a resident of the constituency.
“We never expected that the AGP leadership would agree such easily to forfeit the prestigious Barhampur constituency, which has been a strong AGP bastion since 1985,” he added.
“This was on the cards and I am not surprised after Mahanta was denied the ticket from Barhampur constituency as he has been strongly opposing the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. You can’t go against the government when your party is a strong ally of it,” said Kalyan Narayan Pathak, a former AASU member and a leader of the Assam Agitation.
“During the Assam Agitation I have worked closely with Mahanta and I have seen his passion and love for the state. Even while he was the Chief Minister for two terms, he had a lot of vision but sadly he could not deliver, why that’s a different story,” Pathak added.
“This move might backfire for the BJP if the opposition can cash in and capitalise on the Prafulla Mahanta-centric votes in their favour,” he further said.
“Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has a massive following in the constituency and his expulsion will certainly not be swallowed easily by his supporters. The move may boomerang for the BJP,” said a senior journalist and a close associate of the former CM seeking anonymity.
“The picture is unfolding more and I can’t say anything more than this presently,” he further added indicating a massive revelation within this week.
Even though it is not clear as to what would be the next move of the former CM, however, as of now it is almost certain that he will not be contesting the 2021 elections.
However, as per sources, the newly floated Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) is trying to convince Mahanta to contest the elections on their ticket.
