GUWAHATI, May 21: The campaign within the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to dislodge Chief Minister and party president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has gained momentum, with former home minister Bhrigu Kumar Phukan extending support to party general secretary Atul Bora today.Phukan, who was away in Delhi rushed to Guwahati yesterday and had a long closed-door discussion with Atul Bora, following which he announced his decision to join the new Mahanta-hatao campaign.Bora, who was till recently PWD Minister in the Mahanta government, resigned on Monday after he was shifted to the forest department in the first-ever reshuffle in the AGP-led government in two years.He has launched a tirade against Mahanta, calling him corrupt and autocratic, and has drawn the support of two ministers and many MLAs. His position has been strengthened with Phukan extending support."Mahanta has become a liability for the regional party and the AGP is suffering under him," said Phukan here today.Bora and Phukanincidentally were adversaries within the regional party till a few days ago, with Chief Minister Mahanta claiming that Bora had played a major role in sidelining Phukan during the past few years.The Bora-Phukan combine, which claimed they had the requisite numbers to go for a show of strength, received another shot in the arm with the Congress party saying it would not mind supporting the group in ousting Mahanta.The Bora camp, with Phukan's support also has a chance of being backed by the People's Democratic Front (PDF) and Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC). These smaller parties have a total strength of eleven MLAs in the Assam assembly.Under the circumstances, the anti-Mahanta camp may even constitute a forum with other like-minded groups to oust Mahanta, a situation which the ruling AGP has not confronted so far.Atul Bora, the senior-most general secretary of the AGP, has stated that he will soon go to Delhi to apprise the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister about Assam, andparticularly about Mahanta's alleged failure to tackle law and order.Bora and Phukan have also demanded reopening of the CBI probe on the Letters of Credit (LOC) scandal, complaining that the governor had earlier shielded Mahanta even after the CBI sought permission to prosecute the Chief Minister.
