india

Updated: Mar 11, 2019 22:16 IST

With a month left for the Lok Sabha elections to begin, Badruddin Ajmal, the chief of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) said there is still no clarity on an alliance with Congress and his party is likely to field seven to eight candidates in Assam.

Elections in Assam are spread over three phases on April 11, April 18, April 23.

“There is no clarity. I can’t say that we haven’t spoken, neither can I say that we have because I don’t trust them. If I say something, they will come out and deny,” Ajmal said in a conversation at a madrassa in Goalpara, which falls in Muslim majority Dhubri constituency which he represents in Parliament.

“They start talking then talk about seats and then their Muslim leaders go and put pressure (on the leadership) in Delhi. I want to ask them has any of your Muslim leader gone as MP?” Ajmal asked.

“After the recent Panchayat polls, the Congress leaders think they can finish off AIUDF,” said Ajmal adding that the party’s performance in the Panchayat polls cannot be a barometer for predicting the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections. Congress leaders in the state have been opposed to an alliance with the AIUDF fearing they would lose their support among other sections in the state. He said that the Congress has been wiped out from Assamese pockets and BJP has gained at its expense.

Also read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Here is all you need to know about Assam

But in 2016 Assembly polls, Badruddin Ajmal lost the elections from South Salmara constituency in Dhubri. “You see our performance here in Panchayat polls. We have done better than Congress,” he retorted.

“We will fight seven to eight seats this time. We will keep in mind that not even one seat should go to the BJP because of us,” The perfume baron, who divides time between Assam, Mumbai, Delhi and the Middle East, said adding he will again contest from Dhubri while his brother Sirajuddin Ajmal who is one of the three MPs from the party will not contest this time because of health issues.

He also ruled out any sort of tie-up with the BJP. “There is no question of an alliance with the BJP.”

Attacking the BJP, the AIUDF chief said, “There is no promise that Modiji has fulfilled…The only thing that he has been successful in is to harass the Muslims, be it on the pretext of cows or on the issue of Mandir-Masjid. Communal agenda is more important and development is secondary,” he said.

The AIUDF, whose constituency mostly consists of Bengali-speaking Muslims had vehemently opposed the Centre’s Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which triggered widespread protests in Assam. The Bill, which lapsed in February, had envisaged making the process easier to acquire Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Citizenship should not be given based on religion. Muslims who are not happy in Pakistan they should also get. In Bangladesh, I haven’t met a single Hindu who is unhappy. They allow puja pandals to be built inside mosques,” Ajmal said who traces his family’s origin to Sylhet, which is now in Bangladesh.

However, he said the protests in Brahmaputra valley over CAB were unlikely to affect the fortunes of the BJP in Lok Sabha polls. “Initially, I thought they will have an impact. The AASU leaders and Akhil Gogoi, they protested vigorously in the beginning but that josh has waned now…Why it has waned, that is andar ki baat,” he said adding, “the organizations seem to have some kind of understanding with the BJP. I don’t think (the issue of CAB) will affect the BJP.”

The 68-year-old Ajmal who is also the Assam President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, was recently the target of senior BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Defending the CAB, Sarma said without the Bill “17 assembly seats would go to Jinnah and Ajmal will become the chief minister.”

“As a party we haven’t commented on his statement. What can we say? One man has gone mad so what can we do? If an animal is barking on the roads what will you do, chop off its legs?” Ajmal said adding there were not 17 but 35 Assembly constituencies which could be won by minority community candidates.

“If they are Indian citizens and they are in National Register of Citizens, in the voters list so why can’t they contest? Who are you to stop them?” he asked adding communal divide would not work.

Ajmal also alleged that Sarma wanted one crore Muslims out of the NRC. “In the NRC, the state government and Sarma wanted one crore Muslims out of it. But it is a Supreme Court monitored process. So that did not happen,” he said.