AGP can still play an important role in Assamese politics
The election is due next year in Assam and it seems ruling Congress has no contender. On the other hand, Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) has lost it charisma, they seem to be a spent out force.
AT the time of independence Assam was a very calm and quiet province of India. It was quiet because no major development had taken place. It was kind of a situation, where rest of the country was least bothered about what was happening in this North-eastern province. But, it is a fact that no one is bothered even today about what is happening in this part of the country. Due to various reasons Assam has been neglected all along since independence. Assam has to live with problems like floods, erosion, unemployment, shortage of power, stagnant industrialisation, issues of illegal immigration etc as if these are some chronic diseases and one has to suffer these till death.
But, whatever the reasons AGP failed miserably in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Assam, even though they were in power for two consecutive terms. Perhaps during these ten years of AGP rule, Assam has been pushed backward to another twenty years in comparison to other Indian provinces.
The party, who got clear mandate for two consecutive terms, today seems to be a reckless boat in troubled mid sea. It seems there is no leader in AGP. Despite being the main opposition in legislative assembly, they are failing to create any impact. They are not smart enough to deal with Tarun Gogoi’s government. It is funny to see a leader of AGP demanding resignation of Tarun Gogoi, every time he appears in local TV news channel. They can regain respect and support once they corner the government and force them to step down. But do they do their home work? Have they done justice to the ‘Kursi (chair)’ when they were sitting on the same? Right now the government is suffocated, as a thousand crore scam is rocking the ruling party. Akhil Gogoi from Krishak Mukti Sangram (KMS) is bringing out one after another charges of corruption against the ruling party, but as an opposition, AGP has so far failed to take advantage of the situation. Just before the election AGP should have taken a political mileage out of the situation.
Nobody is going to ask you today, why you have failed? Today, people only look for whether you have passed or failed and perhaps they are very clear about it and they are not going to give you a second chance. Because of change in perception of people, today a political party must deliver else mandate shall go to somebody else. The days of a political wave of a particular party has gone and so, hung parliament, hung government is a common situation. A political party must be professionally organised like a successful corporate house. Otherwise you won’t be able to deliver. Once you fail to deliver, people shall stop buying your products. Perhaps this is an area, where Tarun Gogoi government has an edge. There are few young ministers in his government, who are working like efficient skilled managers. They have been able to launch scheme after scheme. People are getting benefits out of it. It is true at the same time, that lot of issues also have come up like, one thousand crore scam, controversy over the issue of making a big dam over the river Suwansiri and so on. But issues are bound to come up when there is activity and it is good sign. When there is no activity there is no issue.
But still there is great scope for a truly regional political party in a province like Assam. Because Assam consists of a complex society and so some sensitive complex issues which only a man from this province can understand well and shall be able to deal more effectively. These issues must find place in their political agenda. It does not matter how effective a leader might be but being a part of national political party it is not very easy to deal with these issues as they are not in the agenda of the party. Therefore, AGP still has a chance, provided it starts working for people and starts the race for power. It must re-organise itself from grass root level to top brass, involve intellectuals from the region, as well as representatives from various ethnic and indigenous communities. AGP must have a clear agenda to address various issues of the province-long term as well as short term agenda. What is more important is to have a vision – keeping in mind that this is a global era.
Nobody is going to ask you today, why you have failed? Today, people only look for whether you have passed or failed and perhaps they are very clear about it and they are not going to give you a second chance. Because of change in perception of people, today a political party must deliver else mandate shall go to somebody else. The days of a political wave of a particular party has gone and so, hung parliament, hung government is a common situation. A political party must be professionally organised like a successful corporate house. Otherwise you won’t be able to deliver. Once you fail to deliver, people shall stop buying your products. Perhaps this is an area, where Tarun Gogoi government has an edge. There are few young ministers in his government, who are working like efficient skilled managers. They have been able to launch scheme after scheme. People are getting benefits out of it. It is true at the same time, that lot of issues also have come up like, one thousand crore scam, controversy over the issue of making a big dam over the river Suwansiri and so on. But issues are bound to come up when there is activity and it is good sign. When there is no activity there is no issue.
But still there is great scope for a truly regional political party in a province like Assam. Because Assam consists of a complex society and so some sensitive complex issues which only a man from this province can understand well and shall be able to deal more effectively. These issues must find place in their political agenda. It does not matter how effective a leader might be but being a part of national political party it is not very easy to deal with these issues as they are not in the agenda of the party. Therefore, AGP still has a chance, provided it starts working for people and starts the race for power. It must re-organise itself from grass root level to top brass, involve intellectuals from the region, as well as representatives from various ethnic and indigenous communities. AGP must have a clear agenda to address various issues of the province-long term as well as short term agenda. What is more important is to have a vision – keeping in mind that this is a global era.
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