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No clarity on Congress tie-up, says Assam’s AIUDF
The AIUDF had emerged as the principal opposition party in Assam after it won 18 Muslim-dominated seats out of 126 in 2011 assembly seats.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal on Monday said there is still no clarity on the alliance with the Congress and his party is likely to field seven or eight candidates in the April-May Lok Sabha polls in Assam.
The AIUDF had emerged as the principal opposition party in Assam after it won 18 Muslim-dominated seats out of 126 in 2011 assembly seats. But its seat tally reduced to 13 in the last state polls. Despite being a constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the national level, the AIUDF was not part of the previous Tarun Gogoi-led government in the state.
Congress leaders in the state have opposed an alliance with the AIUDF, fearing they will lose their support among other sections in the state, according to political analysts.
“There is no clarity. I can’t say that we haven’t spoken; neither can I say that we have, because I don’t trust them. If I say something, they will come out and deny it,” Ajmal said in Goalpara under Dhubri constituency that he represented in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Apart from Dhubri, AIUDF had won Barpeta and Karimganj seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
When asked about alliance prospects with the AIUDF, Debabrata Saikia, chief of state Congress , said, “I am not aware. Our leadership will take a call.”
Ajmal said the Congress has been wiped out from Assamese pockets and that the BJP has gained. “We will keep in mind that not even one seat should go to the BJP because of us.”
