The AGM also announced the names of two candidates for constituencies going to polls in the first phase on March 27.
Tag: Anchalik Gana Morcha
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Assam polls: Akhil Gogoi’s party proposes to field united opposition candidate against BJP
By PTI
GUWAHATI: Jailed anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi has appealed to all the opposition parties to unitedly give only one candidate against every BJP nominee to defeat the incumbent government, newly floated Raijor Dal said on Tuesday.Gogoi, president of Raijor Dal even offered not to contest the polls to unite the opposition against the BJP.
Addressing a press conference here, Raijor Dal Working President Bhasco De Saikia said,”According to Akhil Gogoi, the strategy adopted by the Congress-led Grand Alliance is not sufficient to defeat the BJP.
“We have to have an understanding on every seat so that there is only one candidate against the BJP.”
He, however, clarified that Raijor Dal is not going to join the Grand Alliance, but only proposing a broad-based understanding to defeat the BJP-led NDA.
“We cannot join the grand alliance till the time AIUDF is there in the grouping. We believe that AIUDF is also a communal force and complements the BJP on many issues,” Saikia said.
Raijor Dal has formed an alliance with another newly formed regional party Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the two parties have announced not to join the grand alliance.
The Congress, which was in power for 15 years in Assam since 2001, has formed a grand alliance with AIUDF, CPI, CPI (M), CPI(ML), BPF and Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) to fight the upcoming assembly election against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The BJP will be going to polls with the allies-Asom Gana Parishad (agp) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL)- its partner in the Bodoland Territorial Council.
Of the total 126 seats in Assam Assembly, elections to 47, mostly in Upper Assam, will be held on March 27, while 39, in Barak Valley and Central Assam, will go to polls on April 1 and voting in the remaining 40 seats in Lower Assam will be held in the final round on April 6.
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Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance bickers over seats
Express News Service
GUWAHATI: There are rumblings in poll-bound Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition parties even before they meet and hold discussions on seat-sharing arrangements.Apart from its traditional bastions, the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is seeking to contest from some Muslim-majority seats which are currently held by the Congress.
Congress, AIUDF, CPI, CPM, CPI-ML and regional Anchalik Gana Morcha are the six constituents of the grand alliance. They came together last month to put up a united fight against the ruling BJP.
“Haven’t you elected Mujibur Rahman in advance from the Dalgaon seat? We are a constituent of the grand alliance, so I cannot say if Rahman will be the consensus candidate. But you can say it. Who do you want? I will show this video of yours at the meeting of the grand alliance. I will say the demand for Mujibur is huge,” AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal told a crowd at a rally in Dalgaon.
Apart from Dalgaon, the AIUDF has set its sights on Baghbor, Sarukhetri and Mankachar seats, all of them held by the Congress. Ajmal has already held a rally at Sarukhetri.
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The Dhubri MP said in the event of a disagreement, AIUDF and Congress will go for a friendly contest at Dalgaon.
“What if the grand alliance doesn’t accept Rahman’s candidature from Dalgaon? Are you all ready if there is a friendly contest? Rahman stands a good chance to win the polls,” Ajmal, who is also a perfume baron, said addressing the crowd.
He said Congress and AIUDF could face a Dalgaon-like situation in two to four other constituencies.
Ilias Ali, the sitting Congress MLA from Dalgaon, said he failed to comprehend why the AIUDF was eyeing this seat.
“Since I am the sitting MLA, it is natural that I will contest from the seat. I don’t know why Ajmal wants to field someone from his party here,” a confused Ali said.
He said a third party will benefit from the split of votes if both Congress and AIUDF contest from the seat.
The constituents of the grand alliance are likely to meet this week and discuss seat-sharing arrangements.
The Congress had appealed to Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal, two regional entities floated last year against the backdrop of the agitation against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, to join the grand alliance. But they are working towards forming a united front of regional forces. AJP, Raijor Dal and Autonomous State Demand Committee have already forged an alliance.
Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora said the grand alliance was envisaged to oust the BJP from power.
“We are yet to hold discussions with the other components in the grand alliance on seat-sharing arrangements but we (Congress) have five-six qualified faces in each of the 126 seats,” Bora asserted.
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Congress to contest 2021 Assam assembly polls in alliance with five parties
By PTI
GUWAHATI: The Congress’ initiative of forming a ‘Grand Alliance’ to oust the BJP from power in Assam took shape on Tuesday with the party announcing it will contest the forthcoming assembly polls in alliance with five other political outfits.The Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha to ensure that the BJP with its “anti-people policies” does not return to power, APCC president Ripun Bora told reporters here.
“Our doors are open for all anti-BJP parties and we invite the regional political parties to join hands with us against our fight with the BJP,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
The Congress has taken the lead to oust all communal forces in the best interest of the state and the nation, he said.
The party has taken the forthcoming Assam elections “very seriously and deputed senior leaders” to the state, Bora said.
A high-level Congress team, led by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and comprising AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, Bihar Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed, and the party’s Assam-in-Charge Jitendra Singh are currently in the state and held discussions with the representatives of the five parties to chalk out the alliance.
“Our central leaders held a series of discussions with the grassroots to state-level functionaries and it was decided to challenge the communal BJP by uniting the anti-BJP forces,” he said.
Singh said Congress welcomes all parties to come forward in the interest of saving the culture, language, identity and heritage of the state.
“BJP has indulged in the politics of divide in Assam, the north-east and the country. We will challenge the BJP and defeat them. It is our appeal to all opposition parties to come together to save Assam, ensure the development and realise the dreams of the youth,” he said.
He also alleged that the BJP has put up “Assam for sale” by selling off land and the state’s resources to businessmen from Gujarat and other states.
“The coming together of the six parties is without any pre-condition but merely with a motive to save Assam from the BJP, which has made a mockery of democracy,” Singh added.
AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said that after a long wait, six parties have come together, and “we welcome this initiative”.
“This is an effort to defeat the communal forces and maintain harmony among all sections of people in the state,” he said.
Rajya Sabha MP and Anchalika Gana Morcha president Ajit Kumar Bhuyan said this was a “historic moment as it is the demand of the times and the people that a united opposition comes together to oust the BJP”.
CPI(M) leader Deben Bhattacharya appealed to the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), an ally in the ruling BJP-led state government, which was dumped by the saffron party in the recent Bodoland Territorial Council polls, to join the alliance.
The initiative for a ‘Grand Alliance’ was taken by three-time former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who had started discussions with opposition parties to take this forward.
His death due to post-COVID complications in November had delayed the process.
The Congress, which had ruled the state for three terms since 2001, and had won 26 out of the 126 legislative assembly seats in 2016, now has only 20 members in the House.