Badruddin Ajmal: Army chief offended us, will meet PM, President

Read | Maulana Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF grew faster than BJP, says Army Chief

Addressing a press meet, Ajmal said if the AIUDF had grown faster than the BJP, as stated by the Army chief, then it was not his or the party’s fault. “It is not our fault, not our party’s fault that it has been growing faster than the BJP as said by the Army chief. It is the people who have voted for us,” he said.

Reacting to a statement reportedly issued by the Army headquarters, stating that Rawat had not made a political statement, Ajmal said the Army chief was indulging in politics. “By making such statement, isn’t the Chief of Army Staff indulging into politics which is against the constitutional mandate given to him?” he asked.

He added: “Alternative parties like AIUDF, AAP have grown because of the misgovernance of big parties.”

OPINION | Is Rawat shooting from the hip on Assam issue?

Senior AIUDF leader Aminul Islam said, “Our party has been working for the downtrodden. This is why our popularity is growing faster than BJP. We are hopeful that people of Assam, irrespective of caste & creed, will accept AIUDF and our party will come to power soon.”

Addressing a seminar in New Delhi on Wednesday on ‘North East Region of India — Bridging Gaps and Securing Borders’, organised by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies and Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff of the Ministry of Defence, General Rawat had said, “There is a party in Assam called AIUDF. If you look at, they have grown in a faster time-frame than the BJP grew over the years. When we talk of, you know the Jan Sangh with two members of Parliament and where they have reached, the AIUDF is moving at a faster pace in the state of Assam.”

He also said, “Planned infiltration is taking place at the instance of our western neighbour, and supported by our northern neighbour, to keep this area disturbed. You will continue to see some kind of infiltration happening to keep this area disturbed.”

Reacting to the remarks, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, said, “The fundamental point is that the Army and the Army chief are apolitical. This is a violation of that. If the government does not act against an Army chief whose statements amount to interference in domestic politics, then you have to believe that this was done at the behest of the government.”

As a matter of fact, the AIUDF tally decreased from 18 in the 2011 Assam Assembly polls to 13 in the 2016 polls. However, AIUDF’s Lok Sabha tally went up from 1 in the 2009 election to 3 in the 2014 election.