Ajmal keen on alliance with Congress in 2019 LS polls

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 20: AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajaml appears to be keen on having a pre-poll tie up with the State Cong in the next Lok Sabha polls slated for 2019. This has come to light when the AIUDF president was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the AIUDF general council meeting held after a long gap in Guwahati on Thursday.

On being asked by the media on the possibility of an alliance between the AIUDF and the Congress, Ajmal said that AIUDF is a part of the grand alliance of the opposition (mahajotbandhan) and that Congress too is a member of the alliance. In the matter of the State Congress not keen about an alliance with the AIUDF, Ajmal said that while the alliance so far is at the preliminary stage, it would be up to the AICC to impress upon the state unit for an alliance with the AIUDF. He is confident that if the alliance clicks, the BJP would be defeated in the upcoming LS polls.

Since sometime talks of alliance between the Cong and Aiudf has been renting the air. While the State Congress has been outright ruling out the possibility of any alliance with the AIUDF, Ajmal appears to be keen on striking an alliance as he is optimistic that such an alliance can pose a tough challenge to the BJP in Assam.

Former CM Tarun Gogoi and the APCC adopted a similar stand during the last LS polls although Ajmal put in all efforts for an alliance. In respect of the 2019 LS polls, as of now, Tarun Gogoi and the APCC appears to be adopting the same stand while some observers are of the view that the AIUDF chief may approach the Congress high command for the alliance that he seeks with a view to defeating the BJP in the state.

Talking to reporters today, Ajmal said, “ We are already a member of the grand alliance of the opposition comprising 20-22 parties. The Congress is also a member of the alliance. The grand alliance will be on an all-India level.” On being asked as to how an alliance between the AIUDF and the Congress could work out when the latter is not keen about the same, Ajmal said, “If an alliance of the opposition on an all-India level materializes, the onus of impressing upon the state Congress will be the responsibility of Delhi (Congress high command).” Further, on being asked as to how many seats the AIUDF would ask for in case an alliance works out, Ajmal said, “Already three Lok Sabha seats are under our hold. Hence, we will seek more than three seats.”

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the BJP won seven LS seats, the Congress and the AIUDF won three seats each while one seat went to an independent candidate out of the 14 LS seats in Assam.