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Flutter in AGP: Goswami walks out of general body meet

In a high voltage political drama, the Opposition Asom Gana Parishad has replaced president Brindabon Goswami with general secretary Chandra Mohan Patowary. The sudden and strange development came up after the sitting president Brindabon Goswami walked out of the stormy general body meeting organized at the Udeshna Cinema hall premises on Sunday. On the other hand, the central executive body has been dissolved minutes after two top guns Dr Arun Sarma and Sarbananda Sonowal resigned as vice presidents. Before that the party’s general body meeting cleared the decks for unification of the regional forces at a verbal vote.

The Asom Gana Parishad was born in 1985.

On that year, the party managed to get 61 seat in the assembly polls paving the way for occupying Dispur with the help a few independent legislators. In 1991, the regional party was divided and the breakaway group was named as the Natun Asom Gana Parishad. The new party was led by the main architects of the Assam Agitation Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, Pulakesh Baruah, Brindabon Goswami, Dinesh Goswami et al. And the result came in the form of the defeat in thw 1991 Assembly polls. Stunned by the poll debacle, the united form the first time and agains came to power in 1996. The regional party formed the government with Mahanta again as the Chief Minister but with the help of UMF and the Left parties. Atul Bora and Pulakesh Baruah who were unhappy with this course of action floated the Trinamool Gana Parishad. Instead of merging with TGP, the regional party forged poll pact with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2001 lost to Congress. Mahanta resigned from the party presidentship and the onus of responsibility was left to Brindabon Goswami and thus the party was riddled with internal bickering. There was two camps of Mahanta and Goswami withnin the party. Mahanta was expelled from the party. A stunned Mahanta backed by his henchmen Gunin hazarika, Bubukl Das, Sahidul Alom Chaudhury, Utpal floated Asom Gana parishad-Pragatisheel in 2005. But fail to yield good results in the asebly polls in 2006. AGP got 24 seats while its breakaway group had to remain satisfied with one seat. Birth of AGP 1985 on October 14. The party came to power in 1985 NAGP formed in 1991 and the leaders were Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, Brindabon Goswami, Dinesh Goswami and Pulakesh Baruah. AGP and NAGP reunited in 1995. TGP was floated in 1999 and the leaders were Atul Bora, Pulakesh Baruah and Krishna Gopal Bhattacharya. AGP(P) was formed in 2005 and the leaders were prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Gunin Hazarika, Saidul Alam Chaudhury, Bubul Das and Utpal Dutta.

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