Assam Elections: Himanta Biswa Sarma 'vows' to restrict Congress-AIUDF alliance to 30 Seats

Guwahati: Every single year there is an election Assam, there is immense speculation about whether the Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) parties will contest the polls together.

These parties, the largest and most influential among the opposition parties in Assam, have further narrowed the gulf separating them as both see a need to defeat the BJP in a bid to stay relevant in the region. Indeed, both parties lost much ground in the historic 2014 elections that saw the BJP emerge as the single-largest for the first time.

Leaders of both parties have given their assent for a grand alliance, and it seems like only formalities are left to stitch the two parties together in preparation for the polls. However, this alliance-to-be seems to have irked the ruling party's leadership and none more so than Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Health and finance minister Sarma, a former Congressman, seems reluctant to bury the hatchet with his rivals and has warned time and again that the AIUDF's ascent to the glorious halls of Dispur could be disastrous for the culture and integrity of Assam.

Today, the minister, on the death anniversary of the state's foremost Vaishnavite saint Sankardeva, vowed to restrict the two powerful parties to 25-30 seats in the impending polls.

"Once Congress and AIUDF join hands, I don't know if events like the celebration of Sankandev's death anniversary will be allowed. For a few days, the journalists have become especially curious about Ajmal. Be it Congress or BJP, everyone is being asked about Ajmal by the media persons. This does not bode well for the cultural and social sanctity of the state", Sarma told media on the sidelines of a program in Guwahati.

The minister also said that he has already started taking steps to ensure that Ajmal-led AIUDF is kept out of the power corridors of Dispur.

"On the occasion of the mahapurush Sankardev's death anniversary, we take the resolution to restrict Ajmal and his allies to a mere 25-30-20 Assembly Seats", Sarma said.