AASU, AJYCP form panel as they look to make political entry

Guwahati, Aug 20 (IANS) As the state gears up for the Assembly elections next year, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) on Wednesday set up a committee of eminent citizens to suggest the future course of action for the two organisations.

Addressing a joint media conference here, AASU and AJYCP leaders announced an 18-member “Assam Advisory Committee” to formulate clear-cut policy on academic, social, economic and political in order to defend the future of the indigenous people and genuine citizens of the state.

The AASU and AJYCP’s joint announcement comes a week after the influential student body (AASU), which was a part of the Central government’s high-level committee on Clause 6 of Assam Accord, released the “confidential” report, claiming that the people has the right to know the contents after more than five months of submitting it officially.

The student bodies claimed that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) had lost its regional characteristics and original mandate despite the fact that the organisation (AGP) was born out of the six-year-long Assam Agitation.

“Sacrificing Assam’s interest, the AGP has joined hands with BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). To serve the indigenous people of the state, AASU and AJYCP approached some prominent citizens of Assam and they agreed to become a part of the committee,” AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath told the reporters.

The AASU and AJYCP formed committee members include eminent litterateur and former Rajya Sabha member Nagen Saikia, Padma Shree awardee and writer-journalist Arup Kumar Dutta, former Meghalaya governor and BSF Director General Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, National Award-winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua, environmentalist and former Gauhati University professor Krishnagopal Bhattacharya and former professor of Handique Girls’ College Basanta Deka.

Former Assam Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday announced that his party is working to form a “Grand Alliance” of non-BJP parties, including the AIUDF, Left and AGM, “to oust the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government in the next year’s assembly polls”.

However, Gogoi said that the AASU would not be a part of the proposed “Grand Alliance”.

–IANS

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