GUWAHATI: Is 'Inclusive Politics' the way forward for the new entrant in Assam politics - Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) - which rose to political prominence espousing the cause of regional identity?
Making baby steps into electoral politics, the two parties which are going to their make election debut in the upcoming assembly elections appear to have realised very early in their innings that harping too much on the local identity will not fetch them any meaningful dividends in parliamentary democracy.
For instance, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, President of AJP, who is on whirlwind tour of Assam after taking over the responsibility of the party, is carefully treading his path in the run up to the polls not making any emotional pitch but rather indulging in some inclusive based politics of `development and sops’.
“After threadbare consultations with all, we have decided we will go ahead in the election campaign with an inclusive pitch. Mixing regional aspirations with development politics for all,” a member of the think-tank of the AJP told G Plus.
Spelling out his priorities Lurin has said that allowances amounting to Rs 5,000 will be given to unemployed youth in the state till one gets a job. He also talked about ending the differences in the wages of Brahmaputra and Barak valley tea labourers. All these poll promises point towards a change of strategy of the president of a party which was born on the pretext of protecting the regional and local aspirations.
Secondly, the large electorate of Muslim voters in Assam cannot be ignored by any political party that takes its politics seriously. AJP is also walking in this path and many Muslim leaders have recently joined the party.
It’s a vice versa journey for AJP and it gives them a foothold in the large Muslim electoral base in the state. For minority leaders, many of whom have been tagged as an “outsider” in Assam politics, it’s a way to reassert their identity as Assamese.
AJP which was born as a result of the CAA protests and whose motto was to protect the interest of the indigenous population in the state, going far with this ideology won’t be a cakewalk in the run up to the elections. Doing a balancing act between regional and electoral ambitions will be AJP’s biggest challenge.