Asom Gana Parishad | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | AGP |
| Leader | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta |
| President | Atul Bora |
| Secretary | Ramendra Narayan Kalita |
| Founder | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Bhrigu Kumar Phukan Biraj Kumar Sarma |
| Founded | 14 October 1985 (40 years ago) (1985-10-14) |
| Headquarters | AGP Complex, Gopinath Bordoloi Road,Ambari,Guwahati - 781001 |
| Student wing | Asom Chatra Parishad |
| Youth wing | Asom Yuva Parishad |
| Women's wing | Asom Mahila Parishad |
| Peasant's wing | Asom Krishak Parishad |
| Ideology | Regionalism Ethnic nationalism |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| ECI Status | State Party[1] |
| Alliance | NEDA (2016–2019, 2019–present) NDA (2016–2019, 2019–present) |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 1 / 245 |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 543 |
| Seats in Assam Legislative Assembly | 9 / 126 |
| Election symbol | |
 Elephant | |
| Website | |
| https://agpofficial.in | |
Asom Gana Parishad (translation:Assam People's Council,abbr.AGP) is apolitical party in the state ofAssam,India. The AGP formed the government after the1985 and1996 legislative assembly elections. Party leader,Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, twice served as theChief Minister of Assam, from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2001.
The AGP was formed following theAssam Accord and theGolaghat Convention in 1985.[2][3] The AGP split in 1991, with former Home Minister,Brighu Kumar Phukan, forming theNatun Asom Gana Parishad. The party reunited before the 1996 elections. The AGP split once again in 2005, with former Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, forming theAsom Gana Parishad Pragatishel. The AGP reunited in October 2008 at Golaghat.[4]
The AGP was a member of theNational Democratic Alliance that won the2016 and2021 Assam legislative assembly elections. At the federal level, the AGP was a member of theNational Front from 1989 to 1990 and theUnited Front from 1996 to 1998. Since 1998, the AGP has often joined and supported the National Democratic Alliance.
TheAssam Movement, also known as theAnti-Foreigners Agitation, was a movement, from 1979 to 1985, that demanded theGovernment of India detect, disenfranchise and deport foreign-born inhabitants without citizenship. Led by theAll Assam Students Union (AASU), the movement defined a six-year period of sustainedcivil disobedience campaigns, political instability and ethnic violence. The movement ended in 1985 with theAssam Accord.[5]
In 1985, the Assam Legislative Assembly was dissolved and the Congress government headed byHiteswar Saikia, which came to power in1983, was dismissed by thePrime Minister of India,Rajiv Gandhi. TheGolaghat National Convention of Assam Movement activists, held inGolaghat on 13–14 October 1985, formally established the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to contest the1985 elections.[6]Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the President of the AASU, was elected the President of the presidium of the AGP.
After the 1985 elections, the AGP formed a government with the support of the successful independent candidates affiliated with the Assam Movement. The AGP thereafter held 92 seats in the 126-member Assam legislative assembly. AGP affiliated independents won seven of the 14 Lok Sabha (Parliament) seats in the delayed1984-85 general election in Assam. The AGP formed the government again after the1996 elections.
Party leader,Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, served as theChief Minister of Assam for two terms, first from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2001. The Asom Gana Parishad was a part of theNational Front government from December 1989 to November 1990. AGPMember of ParliamentDinesh Goswami was the Union Minister of Law and Justice in theV. P. Singh Ministry. The party also took part in theUnited Front governments headed byH. D. Deve Gowda andInder Kumar Gujral from 1996 to 1998. Party leadersBirendra Prasad Baishya andMuhi Ram Saikia took office as Union Minister of Steel and Mines and the Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development respectively in the United Front governments.
Since the late 1990s, the AGP has often joined and supported theNational Democratic Alliance.[7][8] There have been tactical alliances and seat-sharing arrangements in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. TheBharatiya Janata Party was the junior coalition member in the2001 assembly elections, but the AGP accepted the role of junior coalition member in the2016 and2021 assembly elections.[9] As a member of the National Democratic Alliance, the AGP is a constituent also of theNorth-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).[10]
In 2019, the AGP briefly withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance due to the unpopularity of theCitizenship Amendment Act with its voter base.[11] AGP ministers resigned from the state government, includingAtul Bora,Keshab Mahanta andPhani Bhusan Choudhury.[12] Senior AGP leaders officially oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act and support the implementation of the Assam Accord, as of 2024.[13] However, the AGP renewed its membership in the National Democratic Alliance before the2019 Indian general election.[14][15] The AGP faces factionalism over the Citizenship Amendment Act, with supporters and detractors amongst the party's legislators and voter base.[16]
The AGP in March 1991 underwent a split when party general secretary and formerAssam Home MinisterBhrigu Kumar Phukan, former Union Law Minister and MPDinesh Goswami, former state Education MinisterBrindaban Goswami,Assam Legislative Assembly speakerPulakesh Barua and others formed theNatun Asom Gana Parishad (natun meansnew inAssamese). This fraction came back to the party fold before the 1996 elections.
In 2000, former AssamPWD minister and senior party leaderAtul Bora (Senior) moved away along withPulakesh Barua and formedTrinamool Gana Parishad.
After the second AGP Government's reign underPrafulla Kumar Mahanta came to an end andCongress regained power, numerous allegations were raised against him related to the corruption during his tenure, government's involvement in secret killings, and Mahanta's overall inactive leadership. These led to his demotion from being President of the party and later he was expelled from the party on 3 July 2005 after being accused of anti-party activities. Mahanta then formed his own party,Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive).
In 2008, a process started to reconcile the differences among all the breakaway fractions and to bring back everybody under the mother party umbrella to strengthen the regional party movement inAssam. Finally, on 14 October 2008, all breakaway groups reconciled in one umbrella at the historic town Golaghat.Prafulla Mahanta merged his AGP(P) with it.Atul Bora andPulakesh Barua merged their TGP with the AGP and farmer leader and former legislator of Patacharkuchi,Pabindra Deka too merged thePurbanchaliya Loka Parishad (PLP) with it.
In 2011,Sarbananda Sonowal resigned from all executive posts within AGP and joined theBharatiya Janata Party, due to dissatisfaction with and amongst the senior leadership of the party who were trying to forge an alliance with a party that was against the scrapping of the controversial IMDT Act. "The AGP was born out of the illegal foreigners' issue after the six-year-longAssam agitation; 855 people laid down their lives in the agitation. However, the party has failed to honor the sacrifice of the martyrs by deviating from its principles. But I have no grievances against the dedicated grassroots-level workers. Since the AGP has failed to tackle the illegal migrants' problem, I've joined the BJP keeping in mind the interest of the people ofAssam and the fact that I'll be able to highlight the problems and issues of the state at the national level," Sonowal, the former AGP general secretary, said.
On 8 February 2011, Sonowal joinedBharatiya Janata Party in the presence of the then BJP National PresidentNitin Gadkari and senior leaders likeVarun Gandhi,Vijay Goel,Bijoya Chakravarty and stateBJP presidentRanjit Dutta. He was immediately appointed a member of theBJP National Executive and then later on State Spokesperson of the stateBJP unit, prior to his current assignment to head the state as the new president.
Again on 3 July 2013, senior party leaderAtul Bora once again left the party and joinedBJP.
| Election | Seats | Seats contested | Votes | Vote Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 92 / 126 | 126 / 126 | New | 38.91% |
| 1991 | 18 / 126 | 121 / 126 |  74 | 17.78% |
| 1996 | 59 / 126 | 96 / 126 |  41 | 29.70% |
| 2001 | 20 / 126 | 77 / 126 | 39 | 20.02% |
| 2006 | 24 / 126 | 100 / 126 | 4 | 20.39% |
| 2011 | 10 / 126 | 104 / 126 | 14 | 16.29% |
| 2016 | 14 / 126 | 30 / 126 | 4 | 8.1% |
| 2021 | 9 / 126 | 29 / 126 | 5 | 7.91% |
| Election | Seats | Seats contested | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 7 / 14 | 10 / 14 | 2,628,291 |
| 1989 | Election not held | ||
| 1991 | 1 / 14 | 14 / 14 | 1,489,898 |
| 1996 | 5 / 14 | 11 / 14 | 2,560,506 |
| 1998 | 0 / 14 | 10 / 14 | 1,064,977 |
| 1999 | 0 / 14 | 8 / 14 | 1,182,061 |
| 2004 | 2 / 14 | 12 / 14 | 2,069,600 |
| 2009 | 1 / 14 | 6 / 14 | 1,773,103 |
| 2014 | 0 / 14 | 12 / 14 | 577,730 |
| 2019 | 0 / 14 | 3 / 14 | 1,480,697 |
| 2024 | 1 / 14 | 2 / 14 | 1,298,707 |
List of presidents
| No.[a] | Name | Portrait | Term | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | %2c_Dr._Mahesh_Sharma%2c_in_New_Delhi_on_July_20%2c_2017_(cropped).jpg) | Nowgong | |
| 3. | Thaneswar Boro | Rangiya | ||
| 2. | Brindaban Goswami | | September, 2001 – 21 September 2008 | Tezpur |
| 4. | Chandra Mohan Patowary |  | 21 September 2008 – 14 May 2011 | Dharmapur |
| (1) | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | | 14 May 2011-15 July 2014 | Barhampur |
| 5. | Atul Bora | .jpg) | 15 July- Incumbent | Bokakhat |
List of Working Presidents
| No.[b] | Name | Portrait |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bhrigu Phukan | |
| 3. | Keshab Mahanta |
List of Chief Ministers
| No.[c] | Name | Portrait | Ministries | Constituency | Term of office[17] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Days in office | |||||
| 1 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | | First Mahanta ministry | Nowgong | 24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 4 years, 339 days |
| Second Mahanta ministry | Barhampur | 15 May 1996 | 17 May 2001 | 5 years, 2 days | |||
List of Leaders of Opposition
| No.[d] | Name | Portrait & Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | 4 September 2010 - 14 July 2014 |
| 2. | Brindaban Goswami | |
| 3 | Chandra Mohan Patowary | |
| Rajya Sabha members AGP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Portrait | State | Appointment date | Retirement date |
| Birendra Prasad Baishya | | Assam | ||
| Kumar Deepak Das | %2c_in_New_Delhi._The_Union_Minister_for_Tribal_Affairs_and_Panchayati_Raj%2c_Shri_V._Kishore_Chandra_Deo.jpg) | |||
| Parag Chaliha |  | |||
| Joyasree Goswami Mahanta |  | |||
| Bhadreswar Buragohain | | |||
| David Ledger | | |||
| Bijoya Chakravarty |  | |||
| Arun Kumar Sarmah | | |||
| Nagen Saikia |  | |||
| Lok Sabha members from AGP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Portrait | Term | Constituency | State |
| Parag Chaliha | | 1985-1989 | Jorhat | Assam |
| Dinesh Goswami | | 1985-1989 | Guwahati | |
| Gakul Saikia | | 1985-1989 | Lakhimpur | |
| Muhi Ram Saikia | | 1984-1989, 1991-1996, 1996-1998 | Nowgong | |
| Prabin Chandra Sarma | | 1996-1998 | Guwahati | |
| Keshab Mahanta | .JPG) | 1996-1998 | Kaliabor | |
| Arun Kumar Sarmah | | Lakhimpur | ||
| Sarbananda Sonowal |  | 2004-2009 | Dibrugarh | |
| Birendra Prasad Baishya | | 1996-1998 | Mangaldoi | |
| Joseph Toppo | | 2009-2014 | Tezpur | |
| Ataur Rahman | | 1985-1989 | Barpeta | |
| Bhadreswar Tanti | | 1985-1989 | Kaliabor | |
| Saifuddin Ahmed | | 1985-1989 | Mangaldoi | |
| Phani Bhusan Choudhury |  | 2024-incumbent | Barpeta | |
| List of AGP Ministers inSonowal ministry(5-December-2016- | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nos. | Portrait | Ministers | CM |
| Cabinet Minister | | ||
| 1. | | Atul Bora | |
| 2. | | Keshab Mahanta | |
| 3. | | Phani Bhusan Choudhury | |
| List of AGP Ministers inSarma ministry(5-December-2016- | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nos. | Portrait | Ministers | CM |
| Cabinet Minister | .jpg) | ||
| 1. | | Atul Bora | |
| 2. | | Keshab Mahanta | |
