Guwahati: The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has urged the Congress in Assam to field a person from the minority for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
Chief Whip Wazep Ali Choudhury said, “AIUDF leader Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Qasimi in a telephonic discussion asked me if we could field a minority candidate for the Rajya Sabha.”
He added that although AIUDF asked Congress for a minority candidate, they did not clearly state if they would support the candidate fielded by Congress.
Choudhury added, “I told them about taking his advice into consideration but the decision would be taken by the party high command.”
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He further said that a committee has already been formed to decide the candidate.
Earlier AIUDF MLA, Hafiz Rafiqul Islam urged all opposition legislators to support a candidate from the AIUDF for the Rajya Sabha.
Islam said that every year, the AIUDF has been supporting candidates either from the Congress or those who are independent but this time they want to field a candidate from the AIUDF.
He added that earlier AIUDF had supported Ranee Narah and also Ajit Bhuyan.
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“We were hoping to send a candidate from the AIUDF to the Rajya Sabha so that we can raise our voice more regarding the illegal immigrants in Assam”, he added.
Islam also said that the candidate from the AIUDF will ensure that voice against all immigrants post-1971 is raised in the Rajya Sabha.