GUWAHATI, August 9: Regional party, Raijor Dal has reiterated that while it “is interested to align with the Opposition Congress to defeat the ruling BJP in the upcoming Assembly by-elections in Assam, such an alliance cannot happen if the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) remains in the Mahajot (Grand Alliance).”
The categorical statement by Raijor Dal comes in the wake of preliminary discussions with the Congress over a probable alliance before the Assembly by-polls to at least five constituencies.
A Congress delegation led by working presidents had also visited the Raijor Dal’s headquarters here on Sunday evening to meet the party president and Sibsagar MLA, Akhil Gogoi and other senior leaders, to discuss the possibility of launching the poll campaign from a single platform against the BJP.
“Congress and the Raijor Dal must be united in order to defeat the BJP in the by-elections. However, we want to reiterate that we do not want AIUDF in the Grand Alliance, as like BJP, we perceive AIUDF to be a communal party,” Gogoi stated before the media.
The regional party had also maintained a similar stand before the March-April Assembly polls in the state this year and the pre-poll alliance did not work out then.
Post the results, the Congress claimed that they lost the elections as votes were shared because Raijor Dal, and another regional party, Assam Jatiya Parishad, did not contest from a united Opposition platform.
Meanwhile, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah has said that the Raijor Dal has not yet given an official proposal regarding forming an alliance to contest the upcoming Assembly by-polls in the state.
“Whatever has been said by Raijor Dal so far in regard to a possible alliance has been presented only before the media. We are yet to get an official proposal from the party,” Borah said.