Guwahati: The Congress on Friday slammed perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF for “betraying” the party in Assam in the Rajya Sabha polls held on Thursday.
The Congress alleged that five AIUDF MLAs visited Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s residence on Thursday morning.
“Truth shall prevail. BJP won the Rajya Sabha seats piggybacking on AIUDF’s back. 5 MLAs of AIUDF seen meeting CM at his residence early in the morning,” Assam Congress said in a tweet on Friday.
APCC spokesperson Monjit Mahanta in a statement said that five AIUDF MLAs–Karimuddin Barbhuyan, Hafiz Rafiqul Islam, Aminul Islam and Ashraful Islam, were seen coming out of the official residence of Chief Minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma in a Scorpio and a Fortune car on Friday morning.
The BJP and its ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) bagged both the Rajya Sabha seat from Assam that went to polls on Thursday.
According to calculations, Congress candidate Ripun Bora was to win one of the seats with the support of all the opposition parties. Earlier, AIUDF had announced its support for Ripun Bora.
However, he lost the polls due to cross-voting.
Congress claimed that while one of its MLAs “wasted” vote, seven MLAs from AIUDF voted for the BJP.
BJP candidate Pabitra Margherita secured 46 votes while its ally UPPL’s candidate Rwngwra Narzary secured 44 votes. Congress nominee Ripun Bora secured 35 votes.