Guwahati, Oct 23: The chief of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Badruddin Ajmal said on Wednesday that to stop BJP from winning seats in the upcoming bypolls in Assam, his party has decided not to contest the elections.
The AIUDF leadership earlier announced that they would field a candidate in the Samaguri Assembly seat; however, they changed their decision and the party on Tuesday announced that they have decided to stay out of the byelections.
Ajmal said, “If we field candidates in any of the five seats which are going into bypolls, the BJP will get an advantage. We do not want to give the ruling party an edge in this election. AIUDF’s motive is to put a brake on BJP’s winning spree and that is why we have decided not to contest polls.”
The AIUDF leader was defeated in this year’s Lok Sabha elections by Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain from his bastion Dhubri — a seat he had represented in the Lok Sabha since 2009. Hussain was an MLA in the Samaguri Assembly constituency for a long time and the Congress party fielded him in the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat to take on Ajmal.
Rakibul Hussain gave a spectacular performance and defeated the AIUDF chief by a margin of more than 10 lakh votes. Meanwhile, following his election to the Lok Sabha, his Assembly seat Samaguri fell vacant and the bypoll was necessitated.
The Congress party has given a ticket to Rakibul Hussain’s son Tanzil in the Samaguri seat for the upcoming byelection. Ajmal said, “I might have differences with Rakibul Hussain in Dhubri but I have no animosity with his son. I wish him good luck and I desire that he be chosen as an MLA from Samaguri in the bypolls. He came to my house for the blessing.”
On the other hand, the BJP is aiming to oust Congress from Samaguri this time. The ruling party has got its top leaders to campaign for the bye-elections. The ruling party has announced candidates for three seats — Dholai, Samaguri and Behali.
Diplu Ranjan Sarma has been given a ticket in Samaguri while Diganta Ghatowar and Nihar Ranjan Das will fight for the BJP in Behali and Dholai Assembly segments respectively. Bypolls to the five Assembly constituencies — Dholai, Samaguri, Behali, Bongaigaon, and Sidli became due following the elections of five legislators to Lok Sabha in the 2024 general elections.
IANS