Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The run-up to the 2026 Assembly election in Assam seems to be a recipe in the making for the emergence of a minority-based third front in the state where the BJP government has adopted a tough stance on Miyan encroachers.
The UP-based Rashtriya Ulama Council (RUC) has already made it clear to field candidates in the Assam Assembly election. AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal, on the other hand, has dropped a hint that the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to fight the Assembly election in Assam in 2026. It is, however, not yet clear if these three Muslim-based parties will be a united front.
After the delimitation exercise, the number of Muslim-dominated LACs (Legislative Assembly Constituencies) in the state has come down to 23 from 37. The possible third front will have their eyes set on these 23 LACs. Some of these LACs are Gauripur, Binakandi, Mandia, Jaleswar, Lahorighat, Dhing, Sonai, Golokganj, etc.
RUC leaders met in Assam recently and discussed the Assembly election. They feel that the Congress has not done anything worthwhile for the Assam minorities whom the party has all along been using as their vote bank. The AIUDF, on the other hand, is miffed at not being invited to the recent Congress-led united opposition meeting held in Guwahati. The AIUDF has a sizable number of legislators in the state.
The BJP-led government in the state taking a tough stand against Miyan encroachers might make these three minority parties get into a huddle to reach an electoral understanding. With the emergence of the RUC in the state, both the Congress and the AIUDF seem to lose their respective ground to an extent.
The United Minority Front (UMF) came to the electoral scene in Assam in 1985 with a bang by winning 17 seats. The UMF emerged in the aftermath of the ‘wrath’ the minority people had faced during the Assam Agitation and the then Congress government’s failure to protect them.
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