AIUDF forges ties with JD(U), RJD to fight ‘communal’ BJP

GUWAHATI: Main opposition party in Assam Assembly, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has forged an alliance with JD(U) and RJD to fight the ‘communal’ BJP jointly in the next month’s Assam Assembly election.
Making an announcement about the alliance, AIUDF president, Badaruddin Ajmal said the alliance was keeping its doors open for the ruling Congress to join hands to defeat BJP.
The AIUDF leader said he had held several meetings with JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav before the alliance was finalised, with the primary objective of bringing together secular forces, on lines of the alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress in last year’s Bihar polls.
He maintained that Nitish Kumar and poll strategist Prashant Kishore had tried to get Congress on board in Assam also but the talks failed. Ajmal also claimed that senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Prafulla Mahanta had also held several meetings with Kumar but the AGP finally opted for siding with the BJP which has another ally, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).
“All is not lost yet and there is time still for the Congress to join this alliance so that we can defeat the communal alliance of BJP-AGP-BPF,” Ajmal said.
JD(U) general secretary Arun Srivastava said the alliance will ensure that the BJP cannot spread its ‘communal tentacles’ in the state and added that the doors were still open for the Congress to join hands.
RJD’s Assam convener Kanak Gogoi termed the alliance as coming together of secular forces and providing a viable alternative to the people of Assam.
Ajmal hoped that the alliance would help the JD(U) and the RJD to open their account in Assam Assembly this time and the AIUDF to win more seats on its own. The parties will have a seat sharing arrangement.
The three parties published a joint declaration on Thursday, stating their position regarding solving several burning issues of the state, including flood and erosion, problems of tea tribes, minorities and other groups, compensation and rehabilitation of victims of riots.