Assam: BJP Lok Sabha ticket hopeful says Barpeta seat won't go to any ally

As politicking is getting heated up ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections this year, questions are arising over the issue of seat sharing within the BJP and its allies in Assam. At a time when the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is hoping that they would get to field their candidate in the Barpeta constituency, the saffron party's own ticket contender has said that Barpeta seat would not be given away to any other party.

Speaking to media in Barpeta town today, the BJP's Lok Sabha ticket contender Ashok Sharma has said that there is no intention of the party to give away the Barpeta seat to any other party. 

Sharma said that the last delimitation exercise has increased the chances of the BJP in Barpeta constituency and hence they have been working in that regard. He also made it clear that so far there been no decision of even a discussion on giving away the Barpeta seat to any of BJP's allies.

"Since there has been delimitation of constituencies, leaving away an important constituency like Barpeta to other parties will not be conducive to our aim of winning atleast 12 seats. There has been no decision or even any discussion on giving away the Barpeta seat to other parties. We have done a survey and we have found that in constituencies like Barpeta, Kaliabar and Nagaon, if BJP gives a push then voters can shift to our side from the Congress. We are conducting meetings in that regard here under the directions of the central leadership," said Sharma.

The BJP Lok Sabha ticket hopeful further said that the party has been running a scheme since the last two years to increase their base in the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. Sharma said that now when they are seeing a positive change, they are in no mood to give away Barpeta seat to any other party. 

"We wanted to keep the Barpeta constituency and for that we were taking forward a scheme since the last two years. After two years of working in that regard, and on top of delimitation has made our efforts stronger. Hence the BJP will not leave such a strong constituency to other parties under any circumstances. We are sure of it. People are also showing interest in voting for the BJP," said Sharma.