Shut out of anti-BJP coalition in Assam, Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF tries to find a way in via other states

Earlier this year, the Congress chaired a meeting with 10 parties in a bid to stitch together an anti-BJP alliance in Assam ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Those in attendance were the state units of the NCP, the RJD, the CPI, the CPI (ML), and regional parties Jatiya Dal, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, and Liberal Democratic Party. The exclusion of the AIUDF was noticeable and the state Congress was emphatic while refusing the possibility of a tie-up with the AIUDF, its former ally. The two parties contested the 2021 Assam Assembly elections together but the relationship has been strained since then. Earlier this year, All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader Jairam Ramesh issued a statement denouncing Ajmal as a “mouthpiece of the BJP” and stating that Ajmal “has nothing whatsoever to do with the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)”.

But, as the meetings in Bihar and Maharashtra suggest, the AIUDF has not given up on finding a way into an anti-BJP alliance for 2024. “Today, if we have to save Assam or India, we need to free it from the BJP’s hands …  The conversation on how the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will happen and what form it will take has not yet started. There is no clear picture if this Mahagathbandhan will be with the Congress, without the Congress, or as a third front,” said AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam.

He added, “We are seeing that Nitish Kumar is having discussions with small regional parties in every state. Our political party is very small and we went because we were invited and we are hoping that we will be part of this foundation, even if it’s just one brick … In every state, there are regional parties which somewhere or the other have differences with the Congress — CPI(M) in Kerala, KCR’s party in Telangana. Does that mean there will be no partnership with them?”

Criticising the Assam Congress-led alliance and the AIUDF’s exclusion, Islam said, “The 11 parties they have gathered together, how many of them have district committees and central committees? Some parties have never contested elections, there are some that have never had candidates. If they gather 11 such parties that have no vote share and keep the ones with a vote share at a distance … We have not had any conversation with AICC (All India Congress Committee) and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and we will not have either. Our clear stand is that we will maintain a relationship with other like-minded secular parties in the country … To defeat the BJP, we are ready to go to any extent.”

But, the Assam Congress leadership continues to rule out the possibility of tying up with the Ajmal-led party. Dismissing the AIUDF’s talks with the JD(U), RJD, and NCP, the Leader of the Opposition in Assam, Debabrata Saikia, said, “The Congress has decided that there is no question of friendship between the Assam Congress and the AIUDF. Jairam Ramesh has also made this clear. After that, since there’s talk of this kind of an alliance forming between the AIUDF and the JD(U), if they tie up elsewhere somewhere outside Assam I have no issue with it. The JD(U) is powerful in Bihar, so maybe they will do seat sharing in Bihar.”

Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah said, “When the Congress had done the Bharat Jodo Yatra, 28 political parties supported us. Moving forward, there is a  discussion happening that the anti-BJP forces in the country should unite. The discussion is ongoing and the view of the Assam Congress regarding the question of tying up with the AIUDF is clear and well-known.”