AIUDF to contest 30 Assembly seats in Assam: Aminul Islam

Guwahati: Amid the growing possibility of a Congress-AIUDF partnership ahead of the upcoming polls in Assam, the latter party's General Secretary Aminul Islam has said that his party is eyeing to contest in 30 of the 126 Constituencies in the state.

Talking to media persons today, the AIUDF leader said that his party would contest in those Constituencies where it is likely to pull off election wins.

This comes amid growing intrigue over the Congress-AIUDF alliance that is likely to pose the biggest challenge to the BJP as it seeks to secure another term in Assam, its largest bastion in the Northeast.

Commenting on the partnership, Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi has stated that if the alliance does triumph in 2021, the Chief Ministerial candidate shall be chosen from the ranks of the Congress, the largest opposition party in Assam.

At the same time, however, rivals BJP have launched salvoes at the Congress for proposing an alliance with the AIUDF, which allegedly stands for the interests of the Bengali-Muslim community. The party has several strongholds in Lower Assam and the Barak Valley region and currently has 14 members in the legislative assembly.

Meanwhile, despite the BJP's mockery, the Congress continues to stand firm and extend a hand of friendship to the Maulana Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF.

Gogoi, party president Ripun Bora, and leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia have all asserted that there is a great need for the anti-BJP and anti-CAA parties to come together to oust the BJP from power.

If the two parties do come together, it will be for the first time. Although there have been murmurs about an alliance in the past, never has never been an official pact.

Veteran Congress leaders like Gogoi have over the years said that the AIUDF was a "communal" party and a "B team of the BJP", fielding candidates to eat away the Congress vote.

However, earlier this year, Gogoi and Ajmal walked out hand-in-hand from the state Assembly after filing the nomination of their joint candidate, senior journalist Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, for the Rajya Sabha elections. Bhuyan ended up winning the election.

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