GUWAHATI: Barely a month after fighting the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections together with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Congress in Assam now says it has not forged an alliance with the minority-based party for the Assembly elections, due in April-May.
“I said it a thousand times before and I will say it again. The Congress hasn’t yet finalised the issue of alliance. Any decision on alliance with AIUDF, Left parties or any other party will be made following consultations with our party workers,” Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam, Jitendra Singh, said.
“Our observers are visiting places in the state to know the opinions of our grassroots workers. Fifty per cent of the districts have been already covered. We will analyse their opinions and take a call keeping in mind the best interests of the country and the state,” he said.
However, given their alignment in the BTC elections, AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal is saying that the two parties will contest the Assembly elections together.
They had contested 20 of the BTC’s 40 seats. The Congress had won just one of the 13 seats it contested. The AIUDF, which contested seven seats, had failed to open its account. The Congress’s lone elected member has since defected to the BJP which rules the autonomous council along with United People’s Party Liberal and Gana Shakti Party.
Earlier, the Congress’s state leadership had come up with the idea of a grand alliance of Opposition parties. Later, a proposal in this regard was sent to the party’s high command. The response is still awaited, a party leader told this newspaper.
The state Congress had appealed to “like-minded parties” to join the grand alliance so the BJP could be defeated in the polls. The AIUDF had liked the idea so much that it sent a party delegation to meet the state Congress leaders and hold a discussion on it.
Earlier, the Congress claimed that the Left parties agreed to be a part of the grand alliance and that another regional party was sending feelers.