Asom Gana Parishad

History

The Assam Movement, also known as the Anti-Foreigners Agitation, was a movement, from 1979 to 1985, that demanded the Government of India detect, disenfranchise and deport foreign-born inhabitants without citizenship. Led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the movement defined a six-year period of sustained civil disobedience campaigns, political instability and ethnic violence. The movement ended in 1985 with the Assam Accord.

In 1985, the Assam Legislative Assembly was dissolved and the Congress government headed by Hiteswar Saikia, which came to power in 1983, was dismissed by the Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. The Golaghat National Convention of Assam Movement activists, held in Golaghat on 13–14 October 1985, formally established the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to contest the 1985 elections. 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 delayed 1984-85 general election in Assam. The AGP formed the government again after the 1996 elections.

Party leader, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, served as the Chief 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 the National Front government from December 1989 to November 1990. AGP Member of Parliament Dinesh Goswami was the Union Minister of Law and Justice in the V. P. Singh Ministry. The party also took part in the United Front governments headed by H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral from 1996 to 1998. Party leaders Birendra Prasad Baishya and Muhi 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 the National Democratic Alliance. There have been tactical alliances and seat-sharing arrangements in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party was the junior coalition member in the 2001 assembly elections, but the AGP accepted the role of junior coalition member in the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections. As a member of the National Democratic Alliance, the AGP is a constituent also of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).

In 2019, the AGP briefly withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance due to the unpopularity of the Citizenship Amendment Act with its voter base. AGP ministers resigned from the state government, including Atul Bora, Keshab Mahanta and Phani Bhusan Choudhury. Senior AGP leaders officially oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act and support the implementation of the Assam Accord, as of 2024. However, the AGP renewed its membership in the National Democratic Alliance before the 2019 Indian general election. The AGP faces factionalism over the Citizenship Amendment Act, with supporters and detractors amongst the party's legislators and voter base.

Factionalism

The AGP in March 1991 underwent a split when party general secretary and former Assam Home Minister Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, former Union Law Minister and MP Dinesh Goswami, former state Education Minister Brindaban Goswami, Assam Legislative Assembly speaker Pulakesh Barua and others formed the Natun Asom Gana Parishad (natun means new in Assamese). This fraction came back to the party fold before the 1996 elections.

In 2000, former Assam PWD minister and senior party leader Atul Bora (Senior) moved away along with Pulakesh Barua and formed Trinamool Gana Parishad.

After the second AGP Government's reign under Prafulla Kumar Mahanta came to an end and Congress 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 in Assam. 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 and Pulakesh Barua merged their TGP with the AGP and farmer leader and former legislator of Patacharkuchi, Pabindra Deka too merged the Purbanchaliya Loka Parishad (PLP) with it.

In 2011, Sarbananda Sonowal resigned from all executive posts within AGP and joined the Bharatiya 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-long Assam 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 of Assam 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 joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of the then BJP National President Nitin Gadkari and senior leaders like Varun Gandhi, Vijay Goel, Bijoya Chakravarty and state BJP president Ranjit Dutta. He was immediately appointed a member of the BJP National Executive and then later on State Spokesperson of the state BJP unit, prior to his current assignment to head the state as the new president.

Again on 3 July 2013, senior party leader Atul Bora once again left the party and joined BJP.

Electoral performance

Assam Legislative Assembly

Lok Sabha, Assam

Leadership

List of presidents

List of Working Presidents

List of Chief Ministers

List of Leaders of Opposition

Members in Rajya Sabha

• Baishya
• Buragohain
• Chakravarty
• Chaliha
• Das
• Ledger
• Mahanta
• Saikia

Members in Lok Sabha

• Saikia
• Saikia
• Tanti
• Mahanta
• Sarmah
• Baishya
• Sonowal
• Toppo

State ministers

Ministers under [[Sarbananda Sonowal]]

Ministers under [[Himanta Biswa Sarma]]

Notes

References

References

1. (2013). "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013". Election Commission of India.
2. Baruah, Sanjib. (November 1986). "Immigration, Ethnic Conflict, and Political Turmoil--Assam, 1979-1985". Asian Survey.
3. Indranil Banerjie. (17 January 2014). "Birth of AGP leads to Assam being divided into two irreconcilable camps". [[India Today]].
4. Samir K. Purkayastha. (15 October 2008). "AGP unification amid scepticism – Sections still unsure about party fortunes". [[The Telegraph (Calcutta).
5. "Implementation of Assam Accord".
6. Hazarika, Niru. “ASOM GANA PARISHAD.” ''The Indian Journal of Political Science, vol. 49, no. 1, 1988''. pp. 95–104. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41855355. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
7. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/agp-strikes-a-deal-with-bjp-joins-nda/articleshow/37142678.cms
8. https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/agp-joins-bjp-led-nda-33350-2008-11-13
9. (March 7, 2021). "How BJP has reduced AGP, leading party of Assamese aspiration, into a crumbling hanger-on".
10. (25 May 2016). "Amit Shah holds meeting with northeast CMs, forms alliance". [[Hindustan Times]].
11. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/bjp-loses-assam-ally-agp-pulls-out-over-citizenship-bill-5527731/
12. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/3-asom-gana-parishad-ministers-tender-resignation-over-citizenship-amendment-bill-1427373-2019-01-09
13. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/still-oppose-caa-will-continue-to-pursue-case-in-supreme-court-agp/articleshow/109853527.cms
14. [https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/agp-bjp-join-hands-two-months-after-separation-722964.html BJP, AGP back together after 2-month divorce]
15. [https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/agp-to-fight-lok-sabha-polls-with-bjp-in-assam/articleshow/68388940.cms AGP to fight Lok Sabha polls with BJP in Assam]
16. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/agp-gen-secy-resigns-alleges-bjp-influence-on-party-president/articleshow/123683569.cms
17. [http://assamassembly.nic.in/cm-list.html Chief Ministers] {{webarchive. link. (16 January 2014 from the [http://assamassembly.nic.in/ Assam Assembly] website)
18. "Members : Lok Sabha".