GUWAHATI: The political tussle that has broken out between the Congress and its Grand Alliance partner AIUDF over seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly election in the state, especially in minority-dominated areas in lower Assam, has made the grand old party scurry for peace with an assurance that a common minimum programme would be worked out soon.
The party held a closed door meeting in a city hotel on Tuesday evening with all the allies----AIUDF, CPI-ML (Liberation) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) leaders, with the objective of rolling out the final seat-sharing arrangements. Left parties, CPI, CPM and CPI-ML (Liberation) are also keen to get the seat-sharing issue sorted by mid-February.
“We decided to frame the common minimum programme of the alliance partners today. It’s a vital step to seatsharing,” said an insider. Perfume baron and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal has already launched his campaign with probable candidates in Dalgaon and Sarukhetri, both represented by Congress’s Ilias Ali and Jakir Hussain Sikdar ,respectively. And this became a bone of contention between the two. But Congress insiders said they do not want their infighting to give any advantage to BJP. “Political parties have already swung into electioneering. We have to launch a poll campaign in the seats where our supporters are ready for the election. AIUDF will not sit idle till the seat-sharing is finalized,” said AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam, a close aide of Ajmal.
He said, to resist the BJP the AIUDF is ready to hold discussions with the alliance partners unconditionally on a poll deal but they must be given a ‘respectable number of seats’. AIUDF leaders said they are likely to bargain for at least half of the seats where they fielded candidates in the 2016 assembly election, which would mean taking away an important share of Muslim votes from Congrees.
“The AIUDF will ask for at least 35 seats in the 126 memberAssam assembly this time,” a party insider said.
Ajmal addressed a mammoth public rally at Sarukhetri, a minority bastion in lower Assam, for its probable candidate Minakshi Rahman recently. This had Congress worrying as it is an important assembly segment.
Sarukhetri MLA, Sikdar, one of the young legislators of Congress, said, “Six parties are in the Grand Alliance. We don’t know who Minakshi Rahman is but we are sure our alliance will win.” The three Left parties in the alliance want the seatsharing issue worked out at the earliest so that they can consolidate their votes, especially scattered in several trade and workers’ unions. The Left parties said they are vying for about five to seven seats.
CPM state secretary Deben Bhattacharya said, “Anti-BJP parties should ask for winnable seats only. CPM will not ask for seats in view of their victories decades ago. We will seek seats in relation to our current strength.