AIUDF announces first list of nine candidates, three MLAs among nominees

Guwahati: The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Monday night announced its first list of nine candidates for the upcoming elections, with three sitting MLAs and a former Congress legislator figuring among the nominees.

The list was released by AIUDF president Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and includes two women candidates and a former president of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU).

Among the sitting MLAs, Nizanur Rahman has been nominated again from the Gauripur constituency. Aminul Islam, who currently represents Dhing, has been shifted to contest from Rupahihat, while Rafiqul Islam will contest from Mandia after the Jania constituency he represents ceased to exist following the 2023 delimitation exercise.

Former Congress MLA Abu Taher Bepari, who joined the AIUDF in 2025, has been fielded from Parbatjhora. Bepari had earlier finished second behind Badruddin Ajmal in the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency in both the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Former AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar has been nominated from the Srijanpur constituency. Sarkar had briefly joined the Congress in January but resigned three days later after facing criticism over his remarks about turning Sivasagar into Dhubri and Dhubri into Sivasagar.

The party has also named two women candidates in its first list. Minakshi Rahman will contest from Paka Betbari, while Sabana Aktar has been nominated from the Bilasipara constituency. Rahman had earlier contested the 2021 Assembly elections from Sarukhetri as an AIUDF candidate.

The other two candidates announced by the party are Siddique Ahmed from Laharighat and Matiur Rahman from Dhing.

The announcement comes at a time when the AIUDF recently faced a setback after three of its MLAs from the Barak Valley resigned. The legislators who stepped down are Karim Uddin Barbhuiya from Sonai, Abdul Aziz from Badarpur and Zakir Hussain Laskar from Hailakandi.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the minority-dominated AIUDF had won 16 seats and was part of the Congress-led 16-party Mahajot alliance. However, the alliance later collapsed after the BJP-led coalition retained power in the state.

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