Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), BJP's top ally in Assam, has turned against the amended Citizenship Act, and will approach the Supreme Court against it, multiple media reports claimed. The AGP had supported the bill in Parliament. The AGP announced its stand on Saturday after a party meeting, reported NDTV. Top AGP leadership have also decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. THE WEEK could not independently verify the report.
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On Thursday, the AGP Parishad headquarters in Guwahati's Ambari area was attacked by protestors, and vehicles parked outside were vandalised. Sammujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor to AASU which is at the helm of the protests, had lambasted the AGP for "stabbing the people of Assam in the back", as its sole MP in Rajya Sabha Birendra Prasad Baishya had voted in favour of the bill.
The AGP has three ministers in the Assam state cabinet.
Assam is witnessing one of the worst violent protests by the public in its history with three rail stations, a post office, a bank, a bus terminus, shops, dozens of vehicles and other public properties being set ablaze or ransacked.
After the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday night, the state erupted in protests, in which agitators fought pitched battles with the police in almost every major city or town, forcing the administration to impose curfew. Three lives have been lost so far in the protests.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will soon lead a team to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the ongoing protests in the state.
Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Saturday said the decision to brief the prime minister and the union home minister on the situation was taken at a meeting of BJP MLAs and MPs here.
The team will meet the two leaders "very soon" to apprise them of the present situation in the state, Patowary said in a statement.
"Today's meeting also appealed to the people to maintain peace and order in the state," he said.
Sonowal tweeted that he discussed "the present situation in Assam in a meeting with my Cabinet colleagues, union minister Shri Rameshwar Teli, MPs, MLAs & @BJP4Assam president Shri @RanjeetkrDass in Guwahati".
