The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has suspended three leaders, including two of its MLAs, for six years for anti-party activities after reports emerged that they were planning to join the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Assam. The AGP is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The three leaders who have been suspended are Abdul Aziz, Sahabul Islam Choudhury and Karim Uddin Barbhuiya. While Barbhuiya was AIUDF vice president and an MLA from the Sribhumi Assembly constituency, Aziz is a legislator from Badarpur. According to the party, they were formally preparing to join "another party", and has been suspended, therefore.
Row over Rajya Sabha nominations
The AIUDF leaders had also backed United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) leader Pramod Boro, who was NDA's candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. The Congress, an ally of the AIUDF, has claimed that the MLAs had signed nomination papers for Boro.
According to Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also sought support of the AIUDF for Rajya Sabha elections. He said that this move has exposed the "power-centric" nature of the BJP, as he claimed that Sarma had repeatedly alleged that the AIUDF is a communal party.
“If the BJP truly believes the AIUDF poses a threat to Assam, why did it need their support to secure the victory of its candidate?” Gogoi, who is also the deputy leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, said.
Blame game between AIUDF, Congress
The Rajya Sabha nominations have also led to a war of words between the AIUDF and the Congress, with the former saying that the grand old party has not supported it over the time.
"Three seats were vacant in Assam for Rajya Sabha and today was the last day of nomination… AIUDF and Congress could have proposed a candidate together for the third Rajya Sabha seat… I have even written to the leaders of Congress for their support, but unfortunately, they did not respond to our request… We have supported Congress continuously, and they even promised to do so at the right time, but they did not," said AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam on Thursday.
