By Najam Gilani, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: In a move that may alter the electoral arithmetic of the ruling Congress party in Assam – and in the rest of the country also particularly the Hindi belt if the experience extended – the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal has taken a lead to form Third Front to contest coming Lok Sabha elections in the state.
This past Sunday AUDF, CPI, CPI (M) and NCP sat together in Guwahati to think over the feasibility of the experience in Assam and at the end of the meeting emerged deciding to form Third Front.
Badruddin Ajmal
Speaking to TwoCircles.net on phone, AUDF working president Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury said that the first round of meeting took place on Sunday between AUDF, CPI, CPI (M) and NCP, wherein it was decided unanimously that they will fight the election together for the 14 Lok Sabha seats under the banner of Third Front. Choudhury expressed hope the Front will give tough fight to the Congress and BJP/AGP combine. Though Samajwadi Party is also expected to be a partner of the Front but in this first round of informal meeting no representative was present from their side, he added. He said AUDF has spoken to Mulayam Singh Yadav of SP and they are expected to participate in the second and final round of meeting to formulate the Third Front strategy.
Choudhury further said: “Initially we thought of going along with main opposition party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) but since they decided to form an alliance with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) therefore there is no question of an alliance with them.” The AUDF will not have any alliance with the Congress party either, he added.
Second and final round of meeting of the Third Front will take place on 27th of January to formulate its strategy for Lok Sabha poll – seat sharing, front name will be discussed and decided. SP is also expected to participate in this round of discussion.
With a Third Front in the fray, the Lok Sabha poll in Assam will see a triangular contest between the AUDF-led alliance, ruling Congress, and the AGP-BJP combine.
National election is the biggest festival of the democratic electoral set up, in which poor people participate with all the optimism and political parties with all the nervousness and anxiety. Keeping in mind the nearing parliamentary election, national as well as regional parties in the fray to maximize their seat have started the calculation of permutation and combination. Since it’s the age of regional parties and coalition government, the right alliance at the right time is the key to success.
In this backdrop AUDF has decided to get into the alliance with the like-minded secular parties. AUDF had stunned all major political parties in the 2006 Assembly election in Assam by bagging third highest number of seats in the 126 member state assembly. It is led by Industrialist and philanthropist Badruddin Ajmal.
www.udf.in