Congress sees secret AIUDF-BJP deal

A week after Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi expressed his willingness to have an “understanding” with the All-India United Democratic Front, Assam Congress president Anjan Dutta accused the AIUDF and the BJP of trying to strike a deal to divide the Muslim vote-bank in Assam.

The Assam Congress president accused the BJP of having offered '150 crore to the AIUDF for a deal under which the latter would have to field candidates on all 126 constituencies against the Congress.

“What I have come to know from my political sources, is that it’s a '150-crore offer. The BJP, I am told, is ready to pay a whopping '150 crore if the AIUDF agrees to its proposal. I am not sure whether the AIUDF had accepted or rejected the proposal,” the Assam Congress president told reporters.

He said, “The deal of fielding candidates on all 126 Assembly seats was obviously aimed at dividing Muslim votes and to help the BJP.”

Mr Dutta was of the view that the BJP was trying to forge an electoral understanding with the AIUDF, like it has done in Jammu and Kashmir with the PDP.

Though Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had two-three rounds of closed-door meetings with AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Mr Dutta said, “As far as the Congress is concerned, we have not approached the AIUDF for any kind of alliance as has been alleged by the BJP. Neither the AICC nor the APCC is aware of any such offer.”

Mr Tarun Gogoi on Sunday told reporters: “The Congress does not favour a Bihar-type grand alliance in Assam but is keen on some understanding with friendly parties, including the AIUDF, to defeat the BJP.”

The Assam chief minister admitted that the Congress was holding talks with the AIUDF, which has a significant base among the state’s over 34 per cent Muslim population, but felt that the party is “soft” towards the BJP.

Political observers see it as an attempt of the ruling Congress to mount pressure on the AIUDF.