AIUDF eyes alliance with Congress for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

GUWAHATI: Lok Sabha MP and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal on Monday said an alliance with Congress to challenge BJP in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls cannot be ruled out.

"We are part of the antiBJP 18-party alliance led by Congress at the national level. I have attended four meetings of the alliance. AIUDF is noe actively planning to implement a protest programme in the state after the core committee of the alliance decided to expose the sufferings of the people on the first anniversary of demonetisation on November 8," Ajmal said on the sidelines of AIUDF's general council meeting here.

Ajmal had floated the idea of an alliance with Congress in the run-up to the state assembly elections last year, only to be rebuffed by the then chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

"All constituents of Bihar's mahagathbandhan, including Nitish Kumar, wanted to forge a similar alliance in Assam to defeat BJP. I tried my best to bring Congress into our fold so that we could bring together all anti-BJP forces. But the then chief minister Tarun Gogoi was opposed to my proposal and the alliance could not happen," the billionaire perfume baron-turned-politician said.

Referring to the success of the mahagathbandhan in Bihar, where it could defeat BJP in 2015, and the subsequent failure of Congress in Assam, where BJP came to power for the first time, Ajmal said, "The outcome of not forming a grand alliance in Assam is known. BJP was able to come to power. This would not happen had Gogoi considered our proposal.

Gogoi is to be blamed for allowing BJP to come to power." This time, however, Ajmal is more optimistic. "I am in touch with AICC president Sonia Gandhi as well as AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Since the formation of the 18-party anti-BJP alliance, my party has been actively taking part in their meetings. All secular forces have to come together if we have to defeat BJP," he said.