Congress offers support to Assam CM over Citizenship Bill
Asking to form a government with the support of his party, Congress leader Debabrata Saikia on Saturday asked Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to quit the BJP. The AGP however, said it may restore its alliance with the saffron party if the Citizenship Amendment Bill is scrapped.
"In view of the current situation in the state following the Citizenship Amendment Bill giving rise to protests here, Sarbananda Sonowal should leave BJP and come out with even just 40 of his MLAs," Saikia, the leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly said in Guwahati.
"We will have Sonowal only as the chief minister of Assam again. We have 25 legislators in the 126-member House. We can take support from AGP and other parties to form the new state government," said the Congress leader.
The current 14th Assembly has 61 BJP, 25 Congress, 14 Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), 13 AIUDF, 12 Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) and one independent MLA.
The AGP, meanwhile indicated before reporters in Golaghat that it may restore its ties with BJP in the state.
It had snapped ties with the two-and-a-half-year-old Sonowal government on January 7 over the Centre introducing and passing the Bill in Lok Sabha.
"If the government scraps the bill giving rise to the need to discuss the issue in our party forum and depending on the need of the political situation...we may reconsider our alliance with BJP," AGP president Atul Bora said on being asked if his party would renew its alliance with the saffron party.
