AASU’s Lurinjyoti Gogoi, Ex-Assam Minister Pabindra Deka Join Newly Formed Asom Jatiyo Parishad
Former All Assam Students Union (AASU) general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi and ex-Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) minister Pabindra Deka joined the newly-floated Asom Jatiyo Parishad (AJP) on Wednesday. Gogoi and Deka joined the new regional party at its two-day political convention.
Gogoi said that the AASU was committed to protect the interests, hopes and aspirations of the indigenous population and he would continue to pursue the same in his new political journey. The platform may be different but the journey will remain the same, he said.
Gogoi, who was at the forefront of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act agitation in the state, said that Assam was facing many challenges from forces inimical to the interest of the local population. The people of the state have been betrayed on several occasions by parties in whom they had placed their implicit trust but the AJP’s prime objective will be to ensure that they are not cheated again, he said.
The AJP will be committed to protect the political, economic, linguistic and cultural identity of the people of Assam and will go out to protect their rights and traditions, he said. Deka, a former minister and currently an MLA from Pathacharkuchi constituency, had resigned on Tuesday from the AGP, of which he was a founding member.
He said that he was sidelined within the party as he had opposed the CAA and was left with no choice but to quit. He said that he was joining the AJP to uphold the spirit of regionalism and protect the interests of the people of the state.
Deka had served as a cabinet minister from 1985 to 1990 in the first AGP government, led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, and had represented the Patacharkuchi constituency thrice — 1985, 2001 and 2016. The two-day political convention of AJP was being held to chalk out the strategy for the assembly elections, likely to be held early next year.
The party was floated in September, following a proposal by the AASU and Asom Jatiyotabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP).
