GUWAHATI: Battlelines are drawn between a six-party Opposition front and the NDA for the April 9 Assam elections, even as Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday asserted that the last-minute poll deal between Opposition parties, Congress and Raijor Dal will not influence the outcome.
The two officially finalised their agreement on Thursday night, hours after the BJP had announced the names of its 88 candidates.
Sarma claimed that the Congress-Raijor Dal alliance would have no impact, as the polls were just a few days away. “What impact will this alliance have? There are just a few days left,” the Chief Minister told media persons after filing his nomination from the Jalukbari seat in Guwahati.
“It would have been different if they had forged this alliance two to three months ago. They hardly have any time now,” he said.
On Tuesday, a group of 171 prominent citizens of the state had appealed to the two parties to iron out differences and join hands to defeat the BJP.
In a joint statement, the citizens’ group, comprising academicians, intellectuals, social activists, and professionals, had stated, “For those of us who believe in a democratic and secular future for our state, the necessity of resisting the incumbent BJP administration is no longer a matter of choice, but an imperative.”
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), CPI(ML) and All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) are the other entities of the six-party Opposition front.
Interestingly, Congress, Raijor Dal and AJP are led by a ‘Gogoi’ – Congress by Gaurav Gogoi, Raijor Dal by Akhil Gogoi and AJP by Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
The Opposition front will take on the might of the NDA, which has the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front. Minority-based All India United Democratic Front is the only major Opposition party without any pre-poll alliance.
Akhil claimed that the people of the state were not happy under the Sarma-led government. “Under BJP-RSS rule, Assam’s social fabric has been destroyed,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the BJP is planning to contest from Upper Assam’s Sivasagar seat, where the AGP has already fielded senior leader Pradip Hazarika. Akhil is the sitting MLA.
“There is a possibility that the BJP will field a candidate in Sivasagar, but we have to discuss the matter with the AGP. We will have the discussion today or tomorrow,” Sarma said.
The AGP, which is contesting from 26 of the state’s 126 seats following its poll deal with the BJP, announced the names of its candidates on Thursday night. The AGP has 50 per cent of the candidates from a minority community.
The list raised eyebrows considering the AGP’s history. AGP was born out of the six-year-long and bloody anti-immigrants’ agitation (1979-85), which culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord.
