No tie-up with Ajmal so long I'm alive: Gogoi - 31 Oct, 2016

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Oct 30: Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the Congress would not forge any alliance with the AIUDF till he was alive.

Talking to newsmen in the city today, Gogoi said: "The BJP came to power in the last Assembly poll in the State only because of the role played by AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal. We consider the BJP as a divisive force. The role played by Ajmal helped the BJP. I'm not going to talk to such a man."

This statement from Gogoi came close on the heels of Ajmal saying yesterday that '…The Congress has fielded an unknown face at Lakhimpur LS seat. This is tantamount to give the BJP a walkover. In the past Assembly election, we did propose a grand alliance. The AGP was eager, but the alliance failed to take shape due to the reluctance on the part of the Congress. The outcome is that the BJP-led alliance came to power'.

Meanwhile, Ajmal today said that BJP's Lakhimpur Lok Sabha Constituency candidate Pradhan Baruah had met him yesterday and sought the support of the AIUDF. "I let him know that we're not going to field candidate in Lakhimpur bye-poll."