Sivasagar, March 12: Expressing unhappiness over the alliance with the AGP and allotment of party tickets, three senior BJP leaders of Sivasagar district will contest the Assembly polls as Independent candidates.

Speaking to The Telegraph, senior BJP leader Jayanta Rajkonwar claimed that a majority of the grassroots workers of the party were dissatisfied with the alliance with the AGP and about leaving the Amguri constituency to the regional party. "The workers are also dissatisfied with the party over the allotment of party tickets in Sivasagar and Nazira constituencies. We have decided to contest the three seats under the banner of the Trinamul BJP," he said.

The Trinamul BJP was floated by the aggrieved leaders of the BJP after the alliance was announced. Though the party is yet to be registered, it has decided to field candidates in 24 constituencies and has declared its first list of nine candidates.

Rajkonwar was the BJP candidate from Sivasagar constituency twice earlier and one of the contenders for the party ticket this time.

The BJP had declared Surabhi Rajkumari and Prahlad Gowala as the party candidates from Sivasagar and Nazira constituencies respectively. The party has also left the Amguri seat to the AGP, where former minister Pradip Hazarika will contest.

Janardan Hazarika, who was a top contender for the party ticket from Amguri, announced his decision to contest as an Independent. He even took out a huge rally from Amguri to Gaurisagar recently in a show of strength. Speaking to The Telegraph, Janardan, who is a nephew of the AGP candidate Pradip Hazarika, said the decision to contest the election was not personal.

"The party workers held a meeting after the alliance where they decided to field me as a candidate. The AGP has lost its support in the constituency and most of the workers of the regional party have joined the BJP. Workers who had left in dissent against the AGP can never vote for the regional party candidate," he said.

He said the alliance has damaged the party and claimed that the BJP would have won from the constituency had the alliance not been formed.

"The alliance was not a good decision and the BJP leadership did nothing to stop dissent among the party members," he said.

After he was denied a party ticket, Rajkonwar also voiced his anger against the party and announced his decision to contest from Sivasagar.

"Most of the panchayat committees of the BJP have pledged to support me. The BJP has failed to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the grassroots workers by nominating a candidate who does not have support among the masses," he said.

In Nazira, two senior BJP leaders, Jadumoni Dutta and Khirod Bora, have decided to contest the polls, a source said.

"While Bora will contest under the banner of the Trinamul BJP, Dutta will contest as an Independent," the source added.

Soon after the announcement of the BJP-AGP alliance, angry workers of both the parties came out on the streets protesting the alliance. A section of the BJP party workers threw stones and partly demolished the party office here to mark their protest against the alliance. Aggrieved AGP workers also protested against the move and raised slogans outside the party office here.

To calm them down and to unite the workers of both the parties, leaders of the two parties had to call a joint meeting here today. They decided to work together to ensure a victory for the candidate of the alliance.