ITANAGAR: Sukur Ali aka Milan, a 26-year-old daily wager, is contesting the Parliamentary elections from Assam’s Dhubri constituency to “develop” his Modati village.
His rivals include the state’s richest candidate, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal of minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Ajmal has assets worth Rs.75 crore and he is also the Dhubri MP.
Ali said Rs.30,000 is all that he has in his hand to go to polls. He owns a plot of land whose worth is around Rs.2 lakh. He ekes out a living by toiling as a boatman and daily wager.
The Class XII-passed Ali, who is a bachelor, alleged Ajmal had won the 2014 elections by “hoodwinking” the people of Dhubri.
“He (Ajmal) had begged for votes in the last elections promising to build roads and bridges. However, he did neither visit our areas nor did anything for us in the past five years,” Ali alleged, adding, “As my village is under-developed, I decided to contest the polls and develop it. I want to develop the whole of Dhubri”.
Asked if he can defeat a biggie like Ajmal, a confident Ali said nothing is impossible if someone has the blessings of “Allah”.
“Only a poor understands the plight of the poor. People living across villages in Dhubri district are poor. They have already started giving their support and blessings to me,” Ali claimed.
He is taking the help of social media to reach out to the voters. “I am visiting the houses of voters on foot as I don’t own a car. I am also taking the help of social media to reach out them,” he added.