Assam Cong, AGP Slam Land Deal with Bangladesh

GUWAHATI: The ruling Congress in Assam and the Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on Monday blasted the BJP-NDA Government at the Centre for its decision to go ahead with the India-Bangladesh land swap deal even as members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) burnt copies of the land agreement in protest.

“Before the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was opposed to the agreement. The party had, in fact, registered its protests by visiting the Indo-Bangla border and unfurled the tricolour there. The BJP had also asserted that it wouldn’t allow even an inch of Assam land to be given to Bangladesh. If that was the party’s position, why is this U-turn now?” former Assam Chief Minister and AGP stalwart Prafulla Kumar Mahanta asked while taking part in a march against the land pact in Nagaon on Monday.

“Assam is not going to gain anything. The fact is that the agreement will benefit only Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal,” he said.

The AGP warned that it would intensify its agitation in the coming days if the Centre did not revoke the decision. The party had taken out rallies across the state on Monday in protest against the deal.

The Congress also minced no words in flaying the BJP for its “double standards” and singled out Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for criticism.

“Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, particularly the party’s then state president  Sonowal, had vehemently opposed the agreement. But after the polls, he now turns out to be an endorser of the deal. What is the mystery in it?” the Assam PCC said.

“We urge the BJP as well as Sonowal not to shed crocodile tears. The people are wise enough to understand their double standards,” the party said. The AASU, which burnt copies of the land agreement on Monday, set a six-month deadline for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seal the international border “without ceding an inch of land” to the neighbouring country.