AIUDF Pins Hopes On Owaisi Campaign To Regain Minority Support In Assam

All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal said that All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi coming to Assam will change the former party's fortune in the April 9 Assembly polls.

Speaking to NDTV, Ajmal said, "Owaisi's visit will change AIUDF's fortune in Assam politics. He will support us in our election campaign. People are excited and we hope that his participation in the election campaign will change the future of our party."

"Owaisi and I are two persons who raises our voices on minority issues," Ajmal said.

Ajmal said Owaisi will visit Assam on April 2 and 3, and is scheduled to address at least eight public meetings across different constituencies. There is also an attempt to bring Owaisi back on April 6, AIUDF sources added.

The campaign will primarily focus on mobilising support for Ajmal, who is contesting from the Binnakandi Assembly seat.

When asked about Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi, Ajmal said, "He has given a walkover to BJP. Gaurav Gogoi doesn't want alliance with us. I pray that Congress will bag seats in the upcoming Assembly polls and if they want us to join them for alliance, we will."

A political observer said AIUDF has lost it support among the minority groups in the last several years, posing a huge challenge for the party. "The party didn't work for the minority people. The main objective of AIUDF is to raise their voices for minority people, but somehow they have failed to do so," said the observer.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the Congress and AIUDF tied up to ensure that Muslim votes don't split, but this led to counter-polarisation in Upper Assam, where the National Democratic Alliance won 43 seats and the Congress-led Mahajot bagged just 12 constituencies.

By the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress realised that its alliance with the AIUDF could alienate the Assamese majority voters and decided to contest alone. This election came as a shock for the AIUDF, as its support base went back to the Congress and it could not post a lead in even a single Muslim-majority Assembly seat.