Assam: Trouble in paradise as AJP, Raijor Dal bicker over 'seat sharing'

GUWAHATI: The Lurin Jyoti Gogoi led Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) earlier today announced its second list of candidates for the ensuing polls, which will be held in 3 phases from March 27 to April 6.

 

In its second list, the party has named as many as 50 candidates who will contest the polls. On Friday, the party had announced the names of 18 candidates for the first phase of assembly elections with its president Lurinjyoti Gogoi contesting from the oil town of Duliajan.

 

However, the focus has now shifted towards the regional party's rumoured cold war with the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal. Rumours have been doing the rounds that the AASU-backed AJP is adamant not to hand the Akhil-led unit what it considers to be "crucial seats."

 

Are rifts already starting to appear in the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AGP) and the 'Raijor Dal', two regional parties having the 'CAA' as the primary poll plank?

 

A source in the 'Raijor Dal' told InsideNE that the ongoing discord between the two new parties is "highly unexpected."

 

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"Although disputes have already erupted in the other alliances, we had not expected that something similar would happen to us. Therefore, we are a bit taken aback when disagreements occured over seat sharing. The parties have been unable to reach a settlement in a select few Seats. Concerning as it may be, is not something that cannot be sorted out through discussions and deliberations," the source added.

 

The 'Raijor Dal' has said that it will field candidates only in the Constituencies where it has a feasibility of winning.

 

"Therefore, we are saying that let's contest in less than 30 Constituencies. It is because we do not wish to help the BJP by floating many candidates as it might lead to vote sharing. Moreover, we wish to focus on the areas where our organizational structure is robust. Till now, we have only announced 19 candidates and even Akhil Gogoi's proposed candidature from Mariani is not a certainty," said the source.

 

Is the AJP punching above its weight, then?

 

"The AJP has already named 68 candidates, which means that it must be confident. It will continue to release more names in its bid to topple BJP," shared the Raijor Dal source.

 

The 2021 Assam Legislative Assembly election is the 15th quinquennial legislative assembly election scheduled to be held in Assam from March 27 to April 6 in 3 phases.