GUWAHATI: With the prospect of a “grand non-BJP alliance” looming in a bid to take on the ruling party in the Assam Assembly elections, state minister and BJP’s strategist in the Northeast, Himanta Biswa Sarma has “pledged” to restrict the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front to between 20 and 30 seats in the polls next year.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here on Thursday, Sarma hinted that the ruling party has been gearing up to keep the Congress-AIUDF combine out of the corridors of power in Dispur yet again.
“On this auspicious occasion of Srimanta Sankardev’s tithi today, we pledge to restrict the two parties to between 20 and 30 seats in next year’s Assembly elections,” he said, while taking a dig at AIUDF, saying that any inroads to Dispur by the Ajmal-led party could “be harmful to the culture, civilisation and integrity of the state.”
The minister also took a dig at a section of the media for asking too many questions on Ajmal as well as the possible alliance with Congress and how the BJP would take on such an alliance in the ensuing polls.
“Over the past week, many journalists have been asking both Congress and BJP about Ajmal and the possible alliance. It’s quite surprising that things have stooped to such a level, even as the alliance has not been stitched. Such a trend does not augur well for the state,” the minister said.
The ruling BJP in the state, it may be recalled, had in the wake of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act movement, launched an image-building exercise in each of the 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam.
The party claims to have the last laugh in “100 Assembly seats” next year, riding on the back of last year’s success in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it won nine of the 14 seats while restricting the Congress to an all-time low of just three seats.