Weeks after quiting BJP, veteran leader and former Union Minister Rajen Gohain on Wednesday joined Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional rival of the saffron party in poll-bound Assam.
Guwahati: Weeks after quitting BJP, veteran leader and former Union Minister Rajen Gohain on Wednesday joined Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional rival of the saffron party in poll-bound Assam.
Gohain, 74, who carried the baton of Hindutva politics in Assam during Vajpayee-Advani era, quit the party last month citing neglect by the present leadership under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his associates. Leaders like Gogain emerged as the prominent face of the rift within BJP between the old guards and those who migrated from Congress.
"I have served in BJP for more than 40 years. All these years, I have seen that the national parties rule Assam from Delhi. Because of that attitude and Hitler rule, people of Assam have suffered and the problems have remained unresolved. So I decided to join a regional party that is inclusive," Gohain said after joining AJP, in Guwahati.
Gogain had won Lok Sabha elections from Nagaon constituency four times between 1999 and 2019. He also served as the Union Minister of State for Railways under Narendra Modi's first tenure. But the rift started after Sarma joined from Congress in 2015.
"BJP's Hindutva is artificial. They have created division among people for politics only," said Gohain, a leader belonging to the politically influential Ahom community. He alleged that BJP weakened the Ahom community by carrying out delimitation exercise in Assam.
AJP was formed in 2020 out of the anti-CAA agitation that turned violent in Assam. The party is led by Lurinjyoti Gogoi, a former leader of All Assam Students' Union. The party, which has taken anti-BJP stand, however, has not yet experienced electoral succuss despite contesting in 82 seats in 2021 Assembly elections.
But leaders within AJP believes that Gohain's joining will boost the party's prospect in next year's Assembly elections, particularly in the Ahom-dominated constituencies in central and eastern Assam. Gogoi also belongs to the Ahom community. The party, according to sources, is also in favour of having a pre-poll alliance with Opposition Congress for the next year's polls. This is likely given the fact that Gaurav Gogoi, who was made the president of Congress's state unit, is also an Ahom.