Congress and AIUDF come together for 2021 Assam polls

Guwahati: The main Opposition parties of Assam, Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), have finalized an alliance for next year's state Assembly polls, with Congress being given the decision to pick the chief ministerial candidate.

Top leaders of the two parties had closeted in a meeting at the residence of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi here last evening, after Gogoi had held separate discussions with his party colleagues earlier in the day.

The Congress core committee had earlier decided to form an alliance with like-minded parties, including the AIUDF, to dislodge the BJP from Dispur in 2021.Talking to reporters at the end of the meeting last evening, state Congress president Ripun Bora said, "We are working in line with the decision of the core committee. As a first step, the alliance with the AIUDF has been finalized."

He said, there would be a common minimum programme of the alliance and it will be finalized based on the individual programmes of the alliance partners.AIUDF leaders, emerging from the meeting, said, "We shall be having the alliance with the Congress. The Congress will be the 'big brother' in this alliance and they will pick the chief ministerial candidate."

"Our party chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal has made it clear that he is not in contention for the chief minister's position," they added.Though the Congress has moved forward with its alliance with the AIUDF, a section of its own leaders, including incumbent MLAs especially in the eastern Assam belt, have sounded skeptical of the tie-up.

They have maintained that an alliance with AIUDF alone could harm the Congress' prospects in many parts, though a 'grand alliance' which includes AIUDF could be presented in their constituencies. (UNI)