LS polls about making Modi PM again: Assam Minister

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the BJP and AGP were going to the Lok Sabha polls together with one agenda, to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again.

Sarma, who is also the convener of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), made the remark while addressing the media at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters here along with the state Presidents of the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad, Ranjit Kumar Dass and Atul Bora, respectively.

The statement comes after the BJP, AGP and the Bodoland Peoples' Front on Wednesday decided to contest the polls together and finalised their seat-sharing plan.

"Neither the BJP nor the AGP have diluted their stands on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. With regards to who will become the next Prime Minister? The BJP and AGP are going to the polls on a point of unity that Modi should become the Prime Minister again," Sarma said.

"We are not going to discuss the Bill during the polls. There are differences between the two parties on the issue. After the polls, through consultations and consensus, the BJP and AGP will discuss it."

Meanwhile, Bora cited another common issue which was to defeat the Congress in the state, saying that there was nothing new in the BJP-AGP alliance.

"We did it in 2001, 2009 and 2016 and this time as well," he told the media, while refusing to answer questions on the Bill.

Although the AGP forged an alliance with the BJP in 2016 and became a part of the BJP-led Assam government, the regional party walked out of the pact following the passing of the Bill at the Lok Sabha on January 8.

Sarma added said that an AGP delegation will meet BJP National President Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday.

On Sunday, Shah will meet NEDA leaders in the national capital.

--IANS

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