The stage is getting set in Assam for elections to three Rajya Sabha seats on March 26. And the Rajya Sabha elections have brought together two unlikely opponents together.
The two main opposition parties in the state - the Congress and the AIUDF - have decided to jointly support independent candidate Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, a veteran journalist and leading anti-Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA activist.
Both the opposition parties see this as a test case for a pre-poll alliance ahead of next year's assembly polls in the state.
AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal said that this coming together of both parties will continue beyond 2021.
Mr Ajmal's assertion was echoed by former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
"Our friendship has started and will continue beyond 2021, why talk only of 2021 assembly polls," Mr Gogoi said.
Ironically, Mr Gogoi had, since the last decade, vehemently opposed the idea of a tie up with AIUDF of any sorts.
BJP's candidate Bhubeswar Kalita on Friday filed his nomination and its ally Bodoland People's Front (BPF) has fielded Biswajit Daimary for the Upper House seat. Friday was the last date of filing nomination.
In all the three seats, there are no opponent candidates so victory of all these three candidates is a certainty.
Meanwhile, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that Congress MLA from Lakhipur, Rajdeep Goala, will join the BJP in couple of days. "By taking candidature from AIUDF, Bhuyan has insulted the intellectual community of Assam," Mr Sarma added.
The Congress claims Mr Sarma is spreading rumour ahead of Rajya sabha polls.
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