Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed the
BJP-led alliance will win at least “11.5” Lok Sabha seats out of 14 in the State
in the general elections next year.
He termed the Congress and All India United Democratic
Front (AIUDF) as “brothers”, who will again come together after a likely
“unfavourable result” in the Lok Sabha polls.
“We will win 11.5 seats. We don’t have any problem
with the rest of the parties dividing the remaining 2.5 seats,” Sarma told
reporters.
He was responding to queries on the meeting of the
united Opposition parties in Guwahati on Thursday.
“The AIUDF and Congress will also compete against each
other in these 2.5 seats. They attack each other and again patch up. So, there
is no point in interfering in brothers’ affairs,” the Chief Minister said.
Assam has 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, of which nine
are presently represented by the BJP, three by Congress and one each by AIUDF
and an Independent.
The Congress and AIUDF are not part of any common
platform, although the latter is keen to join the Indian National Developmental
Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Both the parties were part of an alliance during
Assam assembly polls in 2021.
“Who will guarantee that AIUDF and Congress won’t be
friends again? If the Lok Sabha results are not favourable, then Delhi
(Congress headquarters) will blame the absence of alliance between the two, and
they will unite again in 2026,” Sarma said.
On Thursday, a meeting of 13 opposition parties under
the banner of United Opposition Forum Assam was held here. At the meet, two
more parties decided to join the regional bloc.
The 15 Opposition parties announced plans to prepare a
state-specific common minimum programme by the end of November for the 2024 Lok
Sabha polls. A ‘chargesheet’ against BJP’s “propaganda and corruption” will
also be prepared, they said.
The grouping also decided there will be one common
opposition candidate against every BJP nominee in the polls.
PTI
