Assam Elections 2021: First list of candidates announced by new regionalist party, Assam Jatiya Parishad

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) — the new political party in Assam, which owes its origin to the massive protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act that swept the state in late 2019 — announced its first list of candidates on Friday. Party president and former general secretary of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) Lurinjyoti Gogoi will contest from Duliajan seat in Upper Assam. Party general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, who resigned from the BJP post the CAA protests, will contest from Sadiya seat, also in Upper Assam.

In February, AJP entered into alliance with Raijor Dal, another new regional party formed by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) led by activist Akhil Gogoi, currently in jail after he was booked by the NIA on charges of sedition and under provisions of the UA(P)A for his involvement in the anti-CAA movement.

“Raijor Dal has some internal discussions going on, therefore we have informed them that we are going ahead and announcing 18 candidates,” said Bhuyan at a press conference in Guwahati, “We will announce subsequent candidates soon.”

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The AJP was formed with the backing of the AASU and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) in September last year. They held that the CAA was against the interests of the indigenous people of Assam, communal in nature and against the Constitution. The guiding ideology of the new party is “Assam first, always and ever” while its slogan is “Ghore ghore aami”, which roughly translates to “We are in every home”.

Assam will go to polls in three phases: March 27, April 1 and April 6. Results will be declared on May 2.