AGP denies joining NDA

New Delhi, Mar 5 (ANI):A pre-poll tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have taken place, but the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has denied joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Party chief Chandra Mohan Patowary said the relationship is confined to the sharing of seats only.

"We are not part of NDA. But we will fight elections together to defeat the UPA. It is only a seat sharing arrangement with the BJP," Patowary said.

Patowary also made it clear that both parties would have separate manifestos.

Earlier in the day, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate L. K. Advani confirmed the AGP joining the alliance.

"We have not been able to convert the polity into a two-party system but have ended single party rule of four decades. The AGP's joining the NDA would go a long way in stopping further fragmentation of our policy," Advani said.

BJP president Rajnath Singh also stated that the AGP would be the part of NDA.

"The AGP had formally joined the NDA. They are now part of NDA," Singh said.

BJP prime ministerial candidate L. K. Advani, Sharad Yadav, Shushma Swaraj and AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary were present at the press conference. (ANI)