BJP, AGP pact for 13 Assam LS seats

New Delhi, Feb 5 : The seat-sharing pact between the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad has been finalised for 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam. According to the agreement thrashed out, while the BJP will field its candidates on seven seats, the AGP will field its candidates from six constituencies.

However, the two parties have failed to reach a consensus on the prestigious Guwahati seat, with both the AGP and BJP staking claim for it.

The agreement was finalised at a meeting between BJP president Rajnath Singh and AGP headed by its president Chandra Mohan Patowary.

"An agreement has been reached on 13 Lok Sabha constituencies out of the 14 in Assam between the two parties. We will meet again in the first week of February to take a final call on the Guwahati seat," stated AGP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Birendra Prasad Baishya.

Mr Baishya, however, clarified that the AGP had not formally joined the NDA but the alliance with the BJP is a "seat-sharing arrangement" as the party wanted to check the division of anti-Congress votes.

"We want to get rid of Congress misrule. We are sure that the AGP-BJP alliance will sweep the polls in Assam and capture all 14 seats," he said.

The BJP will field candidates in Nagaon, Mangaldoi, Silchar, Karimganj, Jorhat, Dhubri and Diphu constituencies while the regional party will contest in Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kaliabor, Barpeta and Kokrajhar seats.

Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats from Assam, both the BJP and AGP have two members each. The Congress has nine MPs and one seat is held by an Independent.