Assam: Two AIUDF MLAs to join Asom Gana Parishad soon?

At a time when defections are taking place within the political landscape of Assam, sources have revealed that two MLAs of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) are soon set to join the Asom Gana Parishad. 

The defection of the three AIUDF MLAs is set to take place son sometime in the runup to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. At a time when the Congress in Assam is witnessing a steady line of leaders making a jump to the ruling NDA alliance, now three sitting AIUDF MLAs are reportedly making this jump to the AGP, which is a part of the BJP-led alliance. 

Whether this comes as a setback to the Badruddin Ajmal led-AIUDF is something to be seen once the defection does take place. But the fact that apart from the Congress, another prominent opposition party is also witnessing defection is a significant development. 

On part of the AGP, this, if happens, will be a further boost to them ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Recently, India Today NE published an exclusive scoop that some Muslim MLAs from the Congress are also set to join the AGP. 

If both the groups of leaders from the Congress and the AIUDF do indeed join the AGP in the coming days, then this will be viewed as a huge setback to both opposition parties. Such a development will also be seen as a support to the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in Assam which might also attract some sizeable amount of minority votes to the BJP. 

Noteworthy is that the AGP recently received a boost when around 500 youths from the All Assam Students Union (AASU) joined its ranks. 

This development was seen as another blow to the AASU which saw two of the student body's former leaders joined the BJP on January 28. Former AASU president Dipanka Nath and former AASU vice-president Prakash Das had joined the BJP amid much criticism from their former compatriots in the AASU. 

Former AASU president Lurinjyoti Gogoi had, in 2021, went ahead and formed the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) which is now a part of the Congress led-INDIA alliance in Assam. However, the frequent migration of former AASU leaders to the BJP and the mega joining of around 500 AASU youths to BJP's ally the AGP is raising questions of the internal standing within the student body and its political party.  

Meanwhile, the AGP, which was itself an offshoot from the AASU back in the 1980s, formed its own student win named Asom Chhatra Parishad in 2019, signalling a splinter between both sides.