AIUDF: A force to reckon with

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 23: Seemingly much calm and composed, the AIUDF has got its point across that the party is a force to reckon with in Assam. Unlike other parties like the Congress, the BJP and the AGP, the AIUDF seldom makes such statements. They say barking dogs seldom bite.

In the current Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) the AIUDF has as many as 18 seats even as its strength falls short of the number needed for being the main Opposition party in the House. However, the party has the highest strength among the Opposition parties in the State, much ahead of the AGP and the BJP.

Apart from the 18 LACs held by it at present, sources in the AIUDF claims to have bright winning prospects in 26 other LACs. If this claim is taken at its face value, the party may come out winner with as many as 18+26= 44 seats in 2016 -- a situation that may lead to a fractured mandate in the State, and the AIUDF taking the lead in any political stitching. Of course, nobody can say with certainty that ‘statistics never lies’.  

The political pundits who the party bank on say: “In the 2011 Assembly elections in the State a number of AIUDF candidates were defeated by Congress, BJP and BPF candidates by rrow margins. In Batadrava LAC, the AIUDF candidate was defeated by the Congress candidate by a margin of only 115 votes. In oboicha LAC, the AIUDF candidate was defeated by around 6,000 votes by the Congress candidates. However, in the past five years the AIUDF has done much spadework and strengthened its bases in as many as 26 LACs where the party has winning prospects, apart from the 18 LACs currently held by the party.” The AIUDF, according to political pundits, is set to wrest LACs like Dudnoi, Golakganj, Mankachar, Chhaigaon, Chenga, Borkhetri, Abhoyapur North, Abhoyapur South, Sorbhog, Dolgaon, Mangaldai, Roha, Lahorighat, Hojai, Badarpur, Hailakandi, Algapur, Karimganj North, Karimgabnj South, Soi, Patharkandi and Gossaigaon from other parties in 2016 as the bases of the party in these LACs  are very strong this time around. There are some other constituencies, according to the pundits, where the party has been working very hard so as to turn the tables.    

Another factor that has brightened the winning prospects of the party, according to the political pundits, is that it is the only party that gives poll tickets based only on  winning prospects of candidates.

The issuance of application forms for AIUDF tickets for the 2016 Assembly elections is open till September 30, and the last date of submission of filled in forms is October 30. So far, as many as 200 application forms have been issued by the party.