By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Guwahati: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal said that his party will not form any alliance with Congress before the state elections in Assam.
The Dhubri MP, however, said that AIUDF might decide for an alliance post-election with a secular party.
“Allying with Congress will help the BJP gain some more votes and which we do not want to happen at the moment,” Ajmal told reporters in New Delhi.
The elections to the 126-member assembly in Assam, which has nearly 35 per cent Muslim population, are scheduled to be held in April-May 2016. The AIUDF had won 18 seats in last assembly elections and has three Lok Sabha members.
Ajmal also said that he is trying for a ‘third front’ to defeat both Congress and BJP.
The AIUDF chief leader also said of a meeting with JD-U president Sharad Yadav scheduled for next week to explore the possibility of forming a grand alliance in Assam. Ajmal, along with a few leaders from Assam including chief minister Tarun Gogoi, had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar recently.
“I have already spoken to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and she has shown interest for an alliance with us. She told me that TMC will fight some seats in Assam and in return she will give our party some seats in West Bengal. I will again meet her soon,” Ajmal was quoted by PTI news agency in New Delhi.
He further said that the AIUDF will not contest more than 80 seats in election.
Besides, Ajmal said that he would file a defamation suit worth Rs 150 crore against Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Anjan Dutta, who recently had alleged that Ajmal was offered Rs 150 crore by BJP to field candidates in all the constituencies to help defeat the Congress.