Before the assembly elections to be held in Assam this year, all possibilities of electoral alliance between Raijor Dal and Congress have ended. Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi said on Sunday that his party will contest the elections alone. He has blamed the arrogant attitude of the Congress leaders for not agreeing on an alliance with the Congress.
Akhil Gogoi said through a press conference held in Kaziranga that several rounds of talks were held between Raijor Dal and Congress in recent weeks to form an opposition alliance to challenge the ruling coalition in the state. However, the talks ultimately failed due to serious disagreements on seat sharing and lack of mutual understanding between the two sides.
Controversy over seat-sharing
According to Gogoi, in view of the increasing ground support of the party in many parts of Assam, Raijor Party had initially demanded 27 assembly seats under the proposed alliance. The party gradually reduced its demand to 15 seats. Later, to compromise with Congress, it was reduced to 13. Under the proposed formula, Raijor Dal was ready to accept a difficult arrangement, it demanded that Raijor Dal would contest the elections on four seats with complete freedom to choose its candidates. There were four seats on which there was to be a friendly contest between Congress and Raijor. There were five seats about which Raijor Dal claimed that Congress had imposed them on the party. It was not the party’s favorite seat.
Akhil Gogoi said that these conditions had been agreed upon, but Raijor Dal wanted permission to contest elections from Dhing assembly seat. However, this matter was not resolved after several rounds of talks. This ultimately led to a deadlock between the two parties.
Akhil Gogoi accused Congress of deception
Akhil Gogoi accused Congress of deception. He accused the Congress leadership of taking unilateral action and not considering Raijor Dal as a serious political partner. The party has prepared the list of its candidates without properly consulting potential allies. This shows that Congress was not truly committed to forming a united opposition front.
Gogoi said that Congress, on its own initiative, had earlier offered the Dol village assembly seat to Raijor Party. Later Congress workers strongly opposed this. Even from the Congress side no serious effort was made to resolve the dispute.
Gogoi has strongly criticized the Assam Congress Committee. He alleged that the attitude and behavior of senior Congress leaders, including APCC president Gaurav Gogoi and leader Rakibul Hussain, played a big role in the failure of the alliance talks. It is impossible to form a respectable alliance with such an attitude. Therefore Raijor Party will contest the upcoming elections alone.
