New Delhi: The ugly game of horse-trading in Madhya Pradesh has left its impact on the Congress leaders in Assam as the day for the Rajya Sabha election is approaching closer. Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Wednesday have jointly announced Ajit Kumar Bhuyan as their unanimous candidate.
There will be three entries in Rajya Sabha from Assam after the March 26 election.
"They (BJP) might try to get involved in horse-trading. But we have confidence in our legislatures. We believe that our MLAs will stick to the direction of the party," said Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat.
He said that to ensure the entry of Ajit Bhuyan in Rajya Sabha, his party has also appealed Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) an ally of BJP in the state to support Bhuyan.
"We have appealed AGP to support us in the interest of the state. Like us, AGP was also opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). So, AGP's support will block all chance of BJP's involvement in any kind of horse-trading," said Saikia.
Dramatic scenes are appearing in the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh government where BJP has allegedly herded 10 MLAs of Congress and its allies to a plush resort in Gurugram and subsequent whisking away of four of them to Karnataka.
Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh have reportedly claimed that all MLAs were promised by BJP of getting 25-30 crore each for the cross-over. As per the Assembly seats equation (126) for selecting Rajya Sabha member from Assam, each candidate needs the support of 32 MLAs.
BJP, AGP and BPF combination in Assam have 88 MLAs and if he ruling party can convince some opposition MLAs to cross over, then the fate of Congress-AIUDF common candidate, Ajit Bhuyan, will be at stake. "I believe BJP will respect the democratic process of the election..." said Saikia. Congress and AIUDF combination have 38 seats in Assam Assembly.
Also, read: Karnataka, Delhi get new Congress presidents
