Assam Election 2021: Badruddin Ajmal has been attacked by the BJP in the past. (File)
The All India United Democratic Front or AIUDF, which is part of the Congress-led 'Mahajoth' (alliance) in Assam, will support a "Congress Chief Minister", its chief Badruddin Ajmal has said. The remarks hold significance, putting speculation to rest amid attacks by the BJP.
"I am very happy to hear from my friends in upper Assam that the Congress-led #Mahajoth has swept the first phase. The lowest figure I am hearing from anyone is 30 seats. AIUDF looks forward to supporting a Congress Chief Minister after 2 May," Badruddin Ajmal tweeted on Sunday, a day after the first phase of state elections concluded. The second and third phase will be held on April 1 and 6; results will be out on May 2.
Voting was held for 47 seats on Saturday.
As the Congress, key contender in the state elections, hasn't announced a chief ministerial candidate yet, Badruddin Ajmal's declaration puts speculation to rest after the BJP said he will be the chief minister if the alliance is elected to power.
The 'Mahajoth', besides AIUDF, once the Congress's archenemy, also, includes the Bodoland People's Front or BPF, four Left parties, regional Ancholik Gana Parishad and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Badruddin Ajmal's comments also hold significance because the party has a considerable hold in the constituencies that are going for polls in the second and third phase, especially in southern Assam's Barak Valley and 'Chaar' areas of western Assam.
In fact, the party has MLAs in 14 constituencies in the state assembly; and barring three -- Naoboicha in upper Assam's Lakhimpur and Dhing and Jamunamukh in central Assam's Nagaon -- rest are going for polls in the second and third phase. These include four from Barak Valley and seven from western Assam.
The AIUDF contested only one of the 47 constituencies, Dhing, that voted in the first phase while it released a list of 19 others for the rest two phases.
In the first phase of polls, on Saturday, the Congress contested 43 seats while the allies -- Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), CPI (ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha -- including the AIUDF, contested one each.
The BJP-led alliance, which has often portrayed the AIUDF as "sympathiser" of the "infiltrators", attacked the party in the run-up to the elections, saying the alliance will make Badruddin Ajmal as Chief Minister if voted to power.
The Bengali-speaking Muslims of Barak Valley and Chhar areas that shares porous border with neighbouring Bangladesh have often been given an outsider's tag and called "Bangladeshis" or "Miyas".
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, at a recent public meeting, had stated that Congress and AIUDF are "enemy" of the state as both the parties are hellbent to bring infiltrators from across the border.