By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In an important development, the Congress party has convinced its main political opponent in Assam—All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to support the party in the UP elections.
Badruddin Ajmal of the AIUDF will be campaigning for the Congress and woo Muslim voters for the national party, which is leaving no stone unturned to consolidate its vote base in Uttar Pradesh. Ajmal’s support to the Congress is also a reflection on Muslim politics vis-à-vis Congress’s role in shaping and influencing it.
Badruddin Ajmal, AIUDF president
Ajmal’s AIUDF has some following in UP which is what he will try to transfer to the Congress party which has been out of power in the state since 1989. Importantly the AIUDF had contested in 2007 UP elections, in alliance with local Muslim groups but failed to make any impact.
With 18 MLAs, AIUDF is the main opposition party in Assam where Congress is the ruling party. Badruddin Ajmal, the AIUDF president and the MP from Dhubri, told media that his party is not fighting UP elections so it will support the Congress. According to Ajmal one of the reasons for this important development, was that he couldn’t have supported the BJP.
Ajmal’s support is also important for the Congress because he is also a member of the Majlise Shoora (executive council) of Darul Uloom Deoband, an influential religious and academic Islamic body.
The irony of this important development lies in the fact that, when the main political opponent of Congress in Assam is campaigning for the party, its ally in the UPA as well as in West Bengal—Trinamool Congress—is expected to contest UP polls alone at least on 50 seats where it is going to fight against Congress as well.