AGP working president Atul Bora is new party president

GUWAHATI: Following Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's resignation, Asom Gana Parishad working president Atul Bora today took charge as the president of the party.

In a release, Bora said he would work to strengthen the party with the help of all workers across the state.

On Monday, two-time former Assam Chief Minister Mahanta stepped down as AGP president taking full responsibility of the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha, panchayat and municipal elections in the state.

AGP had contested 12 out of the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Assam in the Lok Sabha polls, but failed to win a single seat.

The demand for Mahanta's resignation as party president had gained momentum after the party's debacle in the 2011 Assembly elections when the AGP won only 10 seats, losing the status of the principal opposition party to AIUDF.

Mahanta, AGP MLA from Barhampur, was the Chief Minister of the state from 1985-1990 and again from 1996-2001.

Meanwhile, several senior AGP leaders, including Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, left the party to join BJP.

Among other prominent party leaders who joined BJP before the last Lok Sabha elections include former party president and minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and former ministers Hiten Goswami and Atul Bora(Sr).