Former Assam forest minister Rockybull Hussain, while addressing the media in Jorhat on Saturday, said that the Congress would try and forge an alliance with left parties and other smaller like-minded parties apart from the AIUDF in the ensuing Assam polls.
Speaking further he said that in 2016 a few Congress candidates faced defeat in Upper Assam by a few thousand votes.
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“This was mainly because CPI and CPM candidates won some amount of votes and this damaged the prospect of the Congress candidates,” Hussain said.
” Pranati Phukan from Naharkatia and Sushanta Borgohain of Thowra constituency lost by marginal votes because of the CPM and CPI candidates respectively garnering some amount of votes,” Hussain further said.
“Despite the Modi wave, the Congress performed reasonably well in 2016 by winning 26 seats,” he added.
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Answering to a question regarding the Congress-AIUDF alliance, which the BJP alleged that would convert Assamese into a minority, Hussain said, “I have a good friend from the BJP who would be able to tell better about the relationships between the BJP and the AIUDF.”
The former minister further said that the BJP took AIUDF’s help to win the Nagaon Zila Parishad elections.
“The BJP and AIUDF also forged an alliance during the Darrang and Karimganj Zila Parishad elections,” Hussain added.
“Moreover, the BJP and AIUDF have twice supported a common candidate for the Rajya Sabha,” he added.
“So, the BJP has no right to make the Congress-AIUDF alliance an issue every time before the elections,” he added.