Guwahati, March 25: Amidst the political mudslinging in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha election to two seats in Assam on March 31, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator Aminul Islam said that the Opposition party would not leave any room for “horse-trading”, while asserting that the three-line whip of the party would have to be adhered to during the poll by the MLAs or face the risk of losing their posts.
Obliquely countering a comment by the chief minister who said the ruling party would “not even thank AIUDF MLAs if they “erroneously” vote for the ruling alliance’s candidates”, Islam said, “There is no scope for such errors.”
“The people of Assam have given us a mandate to sit on the Opposition bench and none can blackmail us to vote for anyone. The three-line whip has to be adhered to, which implies that the MLA has to come, vote and show to whom he/she has voted for,” the Mankachar MLA told a section of the media on Friday.
Earlier, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while speaking to reporters, said the ruling alliance “does not want any vote from AIUDF”, while saying that the Opposition has everything to lose if any of its legislators vote for the ruling alliance by mistake.”
Exuding confidence in the BJP-led alliance candidates ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, Sarma however rubbished talk of horse-trading of MLAs, saying, “No MLA from our party will be confined to any hotel ahead of the poll.”
“We will come out victorious on March 31…wait till March 30 and I will give you the final number of votes that we will bag in the election,” he added.