New Delhi: Term it a marriage of convenience, Congress and its rival All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam have come together in selecting a unanimous candidate for Rajya Sabha election.
According to sources, both the parties have jointly announced the name of noted intellectual from the state Ajit Kumar Bhuyan as their candidate. The election for three Rajya Sabha seats of Assam will take place on March 26 as Congress leaders Bhubaneswar Kalita and Sanjay Singh have resigned from their respective seats. While Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary's term is going to end soon.
With 88 members out of the 126 Assam Assembly, BJP and it's allied Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BPF will have a cakewalk in getting two seats whereas opposition Congress and AIUDF has come together to get the third seat. BJP has 62 members of its own, while AGP has 14 and BPF has 12.
As per the Assembly seat equation, each candidate needs the support of 32 MLAs to enter in the Rajya Sabha from Assam. In the case of Congress (24 seats) and AIUDF (14 seats) coming together, both the parties have a surplus of six MLAs. Both Congress and AIUDF have fought against each other in every election in Assam. However, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) issue was able to bring both the parties closer, sources added.
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"We always maintained that we need to come together to fight against communal politics of BJP," said senior AIUDF leader Hafiz Bashir Ahamed.
He said that AIUDF will always try that all like-minded secular parties come together to fight all sorts of communal politics. Though, both the parties fight against each other in Assam, Badruddin Ajmal led AIUDF to continue to have a good rapport with the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
"Yes coming together with AIUDF was the need of the hour. Everything depends on issues. Both Congress and AIUDF oppose CAA," said Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Ripun Bora to ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview.
Bora was, however, quick to add that both the parties coming together ahead of Rajya Sabha elections "does not mean that they will contest the Assembly elections in Assam together."
"Assam is going for Assembly poll next year. All decisions are being taken on the basis of circumstances and political desires. The AIUDF has good respect for the Gandhi family have proposed the name of Priyanka Gandhi as Rajya Sabha candidate," said Bora.
Referring to the issue of Priyanka Gandhi as Rajya Sabha candidate from Assam, Bora said that it was the final decision of the Congress president not to put Priyanka as Rajya Sabha candidate.
Notably, the elections to all 55 Rajya Sabha seats over 17 states set to be vacated in April will be held on Match 26.
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