Asom Jatiya Parishad: Anti-CAA groups in Assam form new political party ahead of assembly elections in 2021

The representatives of the newly formed regional political party -- Asom Jatiya Parishad -- announced the name of the political party in Guwahati on September 14, months ahead of the 2021 Assam Assembly elections.

At a time when Assam is gearing up for the 2021 Assembly elections, two groups of youth activists that had been spearheading the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), joined hands to form a new political party. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) have formed a new regional party named the 'Asom Jatiya Parishad'.

According to an NDTV report, the Asom Jatiya Parishad has no plans to align with the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) or the Indian National Congress. Their main agenda and motto will be 'Assam first, always and ever'.

The representatives of the newly formed Asom Jatiya Parishad announced the name of the political party in Guwahati on September 14.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the General Secretary of the AASU, tweeted: “The political party which has the aspirations of the Assamese people has been named - Asom Jatiya Parishad.” He added: “To prevent communal and anti-Assam forces, all the regional powers have come together with a hope to rise politically. All hail Assam.”

The two activist groups -- AASU and AJYCP – realised a new party needs to come up in Assam that would strengthen regionalism. They felt the growing need for this during the anti-CAA agitations that had rocked the country for months. The AASU had taken the lead in those protests. People from all walks of lives participated in the movement to oppose CAA.

Notably, several stalwarts in Assam, such as former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had begun their political careers with AASU.