Guwahati: Peeved at the ‘cold attitude’ of Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi towards his aspiration to contest Lok Sabha polls from Assam in Congress ticket, Dr Parveez Ahmed, son of former President of India, Late Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who hails from Assam, on Tuesday raised question about the eligibility of Gogoi’s on Gaurav Gogoi for his nomination to contest the polls from Kaliabor constituency in Assam.
Dr Ahmed whose hopes for contesting polls from Barpeta constituency I n Assam has been dashed after Congress declined him the nomination, said, “Gaurav Gogoi is a nice young man. But he should have been allowed to wait for some more time to get seasoned before contesting Lok Sabha polls. Apparently, the only criterion for his selection as a Congress poll nominee is that he is the son of Tarun Gogoi, the chief minister.”
Dr Ahmed came here to meet the president on All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Badruddin Ajmal triggering speculations that he may switch allegiance from Congress to AIUDF to get nominations to contest Lok Sabha polls.
“It was a nice, long meeting with Badruddin Ajmal. I am likely to take a decision to shift party allegiance. Tarun Gogoi has ditched me after encouraging me to vie for Lok Sabha. He encouraged me to contest polls but backed out at the time of allotment of party nomination,” Dr Ahmed said.
Dr Ahmed’s meeting with Badruddin Ajmal has led to peculations that the AIUDF may field him as a party candidate from either Barpeta or Kaliabar constituency in the Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, two other Congress leaders and formers MPs — Mani Kumar Subba and Madhab Rajbongshi – who have been denied ticket by Congress are in touch with the AIUDF so that they can contest polls from that party.
The AIUDF which stated that it would contest from all the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, is yet to name its nominees for the polls.