By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 25: History repeats itself, so does former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. And the issue of alliance between the Congress and the AIUDF before every election in Assam has all along been all talk and no cider. AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal was on the news recently for reportedly making a statement that this time around an alliance between the Congress and the AIUDF in Assam is a must if the two parties really mean business to prevent the BJP from rising in the State.Such a statement from the Dhubri MP has made sparks fly in Assam. Reacting to the statement from Ajmal, Tarun Gogoi today said: "So long I'm alive there can't any Congress-AIUDF alliance in Assam. It was because of the AIUDF the BJP won the last Assembly election in the State."As though following the footsteps of Gogoi, the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, said: "It's impossible to go for an alliance with the AIUDF only for grabbing power, giving up party principles and ideologies."In a statement issued to the press today, Saikia said: "We've rejected Ajmal's alliance proposal outright. As a general member of the INS, I would like to remind all that ours is one of the oldest parties in the world. The main principle and ideology of this party is secularism. Only for power the Congress going for an alliance with a commul AIUDF is impossible. The experience we've gained from the elections we can say that the AIUDF has contributed much to the installation of a BJP government at Dispur. The lists of AIUDF candidates in the past elections in Assam make everything crystal clear. The party fielded some candidates in Upper Assam where they don't have any winning prospects. They fielded candidates in those LACs only to divide the secular votes so as to make the BJP candidates win. This apart, the AIUDF polarized voters in the State in the run-up to the last Assembly election in the State so as to strengthen the base of the AIUDF and that of the BJP with the religious sentiment."Saika said that along with rest of the country, commul politics raised its ugly head in Assam, tainting politics badly. "This is a threat to secularism and democracy," he said, and appealed to the people of Assam: "Part your way with the commul AIUDF. Those who've been allured by the false assurances of the AIUDF should join the Congress."BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the other hand, predicted that the Congress and the AIUDF would either go for an alliance or merge together before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. When asked for his comments on the statement made by Tarun Gogoi, Sarma said: "The writ of Gogoi won't run. Only the writs of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will work on this issue. And if this happens, the BJP will be gainer."