GUWAHATI: The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is hoping for a breakthrough in alliance talks with the Congress when the Grand Old Party’s general secretary and Assam in-charge, Jitendra Singh, visits the state during Magh Bihu.
After the death of the former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and a setback in the recently-held BTC polls, there is not much development on the proposed grand alliance.
“We are in touch with the Congress. We have heard that AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh is coming to the state in the second week of January. We are hopeful this time, something positive will come out. Rahul Gandhi is also out of the country. So, once they complete their discussions, Congress will call us for a meeting regarding the next process,” AIUDF general secretary (organization) Aminul Islam said. He added that there has been no formal discussions on the alliance since November.
Jania legislator and AIUDF leader Hafiz Rafiqul Islam said his party is hopeful and there will definitely be positive news soon. “We all are busy with the assembly session now. Talks are on,” Hafiz added.
Meanwhile, CPM leader Suprakash Talukdar said talks have slowed down ever since the death of Tarun Gogoi, but it is expected that some news will come before Magh Bihu.
Some party insiders also pointed out that the internal rift in Congress and the opposition by a section of leaders are also factors for the delay.
Ahead of the assembly elections next year, the pre-poll campaign rhetoric exchanged between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its bête noire, the pro-minority All India United Democratic Front, is turning increasingly vicious. The situation has worsened after serious charges about the AIUDF chief and Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal’s NGOs receiving Islamic terror funds, were levelled by the government.