GUWAHATI, March 5: The Assam BJP has criticised the Opposition political parties in the state for not fielding a candidate in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections.
“The politics of Assam has, in effect, turned almost Opposition-less. The so-called alliance among Opposition parties has now remained merely a topic of discussion in the media. In reality, there exists neither any political alliance nor any political consensus among the Opposition parties of the state, a fact that became clear after the utterly inactive role played by them in the Rajya Sabha election,” state BJP spokesperson Kamal Kumar Medhi said.
In a statement issued to the media, Medhi stated that in the context of the three Rajya Sabha seats of Assam, the Opposition parties did not even come forward to contest. “The Congress not only refrained from contesting the Rajya Sabha election but chose to remain stationed hundreds of miles away from the battlefield,” he said.
“In other words, in the Rajya Sabha election, the Congress along with all other Opposition political parties virtually chose the path of retreat and political escape. While it was numerically inevitable that the ruling party would secure the first and second Rajya Sabha seats, the third seat still presented a clear opportunity for all Opposition parties to unite and put up a contest,” Medhi said.
“Winning or losing is an unavoidable reality in politics; nevertheless, by contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat, the Opposition could at least have demonstrated before the people the strength and sincerity of the alliance they repeatedly claim to possess,” he said.
The party spokesperson also observed that the failure of the Opposition parties even to file nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election has proved beyond doubt that Opposition politics in Assam today has virtually lost its very existence.
“The recent developments surrounding the Rajya Sabha election have further exposed the stark reality that the Opposition political parties of Assam will not be able to unite in practical terms in the upcoming Assembly elections as well,” he observed.
