Himanta, Rockybul bulldoze Badruddin Ajmal

SILCHAR, Feb 16: Two young ministers of Gogoi Cabinet made a whirlwind tour of Barak Valley as if to erase the influence made by AUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal in his recent trip to Silchar announcing his willingness to fight the LS election from this prestigious seat.

Forest and Tourism Minister Rockybul Hussain branded Ajmal as an ‘agent of BJP’, while his Cabinet colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma said Ajmal’s hobnobbing with the saffron party would ultimately be a bonanza for the Congress as both the Hindus and Muslims are well aware of the design hatched by these two communal parties to defeat the secular Congress.

Talking to The Sentinel, Sarma said the alliance between BJP and AGP would be a super flop as election is not a mere game of arithmatics, rather it is a matter of chemistry. “Chemistry between the AGP and BJP will never gel”, Sarma predicted. He said the Congress would win at least 12 seats in the forthcoming election. Rockybul, on the other hand, elaborated the reasons for Congress getting maximum seats with the argument that during the Gogoi regime, the economy of the state as a whole was blooming.

Maintaining that the possibility of alliance between only Congress and AUDF is now a closed chapter, Sarma said Ajmal, however, had been sending fillers to the ruling party. Branding Ajmal as an out and out businessman, Rockybul said for Ajmal, politics was also a means of business. Both Sarma and Hussain maintained that Union Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev was not a mere leader of Barak Valley, but a national figure. However, Sarma simultaneously maintained that Dev should think for the entire state. source: the sentinel assam

No poll pact with Cong: Ajmal

Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 7– Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) today made it clear that it had no plan to forge any electoral alliance with the ruling Congress, let alone its merging with the ruling party. The party has also decided to field its candidates in the nine Lok Sabha constituencies of Dhubri, Barpeta, Guwahati, Mangaldoi, Kaliabor, Nagaon, Tezpur, Silchar and Karimganj in the ensuing elections to the Lower House of the country’s Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, AUDF president and leader of its Legislature Party Badruddin Ajmal alleged that the Congress was making a false propaganda campaign suggesting the likelihood of an electoral tie up with his party only to confuse the common people and thus to derive political benefits.

On the other hand, some Congress Ministers belonging to the minority community are panicked at the prospect of such a tie up and they are now making feverish pleas that the AUDF should merge with the Congress. In fact, they are indicating their willingness to join the AUDF. They are most welcome and doors of the AUDF are always open for them, Ajmal said.

He clarified that none of the AUDF leader had met Congress leader Ahmad Patel on the issue, nor the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh has made any such overture to facilitate an electoral tie-up between the AUDF and the Congress.

He informed the media persons that the AUDF had been holding discussions with the State units of the CPI, CPI-M and the NCP for the purpose of fighting the Lok Sabha polls unitedly. The next round of discussion with these parties is scheduled at 9pm of January 11.

Though the AUDF is for fielding its own candidates in the above nine Lok Sabha constituencies and going for adjustment for the rest five constituencies of the State’s 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, there may be some changes in this stance of the party. The party is not rigid in its stand, Ajmal said.

For, the party is ready to go for seat adjustment with the like-minded parties wherever they have the winning prospects, he said.

He also informed that he was willing to contest from Dhubri and Silchar Lok Sabha constituencies. But the party is yet to take any decision on it. For the Tezpur constituency, the party is fielding Lakshmi Orang, the girl who was disrobed during the November 2007 Beltola clash between the local residents and the agitating Adivasi youths on the issue of vandalism.

Though the party is close to the Samajwadi Party (SP), it is yet to become a member of the third front. Besides, the SP so far does not have its state committee in Assam, Ajmal said.
source: assam tribune

Ajmal all set to contest from Silchar

Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, Jan 9: "Notwithstanding the report in a Bengali Daily published from here, Badaruddin Azmal, AUDF supremo, is all set to contest from Silchar Lok Sabha seat", pointed out president of the Cachar district committee Anup Chowdhury while talking to the media-persons at Silchar Press Club today.

He dubbed a news item in the said daily quoting that an MLA of Cachar was pressuring him not to contest from here. Rather the opinion and consensus among party leaders and workers across seven assembly constituencies of the district as well as in the state committee was to field the party supremo from Silchar.

Chowdhury said that people of Barak Valley want changes and they would be happy to see Azmal contest and win, considering the mess in which the ruling Congress and its leader Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Sontosh Mohan Dev is in the present incumbent from Silchar seat, have put the valley in.

Elaborating, he added to say that the socioeconomic conditions of people have gone from bad to worse. Development funds meant for welfare and well being of the masses are misappropriated and mis–utilized.

The Cachar district AUDF president reminded that the Central Committee of the party has decided to contest nine LS seats in Asom. Badaruddin Azmal would contest from Dhubri and Silchar. He said, "it has created scare in Congress circles for the candidature of AUDF supremo is acceptable to all sections of people, cutting across castes and creeds". He claimed that his image is clean and he is most favoured to be the candidate from here.

He described the propaganda by some vested interests that in the event of Azmal contesting from Silchar, it would facilitate the victory of BJP. There was no basis behind such apprehension.
He pointed out that the only AUDF MLA of the district Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuiya also favoured his candidature.

General secretary of the party Altaf Hussain Mazumdar said that Congress was their main enemy while BJP was their second opposition. He was confident that AUDF could easily beat both Congress and BJP on their own turfs. "The trends of the last five elections on this seat indicated the possibility of third candidate wining in the fray", he maintained.

It was easier this time to put Sontosh Mohan Dev in the dock as during his 28 years of reign as Union Minister and MP, not even a 5 km of road in Silchar could be improved. His is a tale of dismal failure on all fronts.

In order to strengthen the campaign and prospect of the party candidate, Mazumdar said NCP, SP, CPI and CPM would back their candidates.

He however spared BJP and its candidate Kabindra Purkayastha from his criticism. Political analysts are of the view that if AUDF supremo ultimately contests from Silchar, it is definite to change the political equation and tilt the balance for the third potential candidate. This will be no surprise. source: sentinel assam

AUDF to contest 8 Lok Sabha seats in Assam

By TwoCircles.net correspondent,

New Delhi: Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) lead by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal is planning to contest eight of the fourteen Lok Sabha seats of Assam. Party insiders suggest that at least five seats are winnable.

Talking to TwoCircles.net, party General Secretary Dr. Baharul Islam said that candidates for some of the seats have been decided already and short lists made for other seats. Maulana Badruddin Ajmal will contest from Silchar and will face Union Heavy Industries Minister Santosh Mohan Dev. Dev has represented Silchar in Lok Sabha seven times, losing to BJP in 1998. Maulana Ajmal is currently the MLA representing Salmara South that falls under Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency.

The Lok Sabha seats that AUDF will be contesting are – Dhubri, Barpeta, Silchar, Karimganj, Nagaon, Kaliabor, Tezpur, and Mangaldoi.

Party spokesman Dr. Baharul Islam said that they are in the process of making the third front in the state which will include Trinamul Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Nationalist Congress Party. Apart from AUDF which has 10 MLAs in the state assembly, other three parties have minimal presence.

Meanwhile in an important development a tribal girl who was stripped naked in Guwahati a year ago has joined the AUDF. Lakshmi Oraon was abused while participating in a demonstration by All Assam Adivasi Students Association demanding ST status for tribals in the state capital last November. She joined the party along with her family members last week. This is expected to broaden the vote base of the
party.

Formed just few weeks before Assam assembly elections of 2006, AUDF shocked everyone by winning 10 assembly seats.

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