Guwahati, March 8: The opposition in Assam has faced a significant setback ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Akhil Gogoi announced on Sunday that the proposed alliance between his party, Raijor Dal, and the Indian National Congress (AICC) has officially collapsed.
Akhil Gogoi, the president of Raijor Dal and an MLA from Sivasagar, attributed the breakdown to the “arrogance” of senior Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain. He stated that disagreements over seat-sharing negotiations derailed the discussions.
In a conversation with reporters, Gogoi explained that the alliance fell apart mainly due to differences regarding seat allocations. A particular assembly constituency dispute significantly impacted the negotiations.
Despite several rounds of discussions, Gogoi claimed that the Congress leadership failed to honor prior assurances made to his party. He noted that Congress had initially approached them with a proposal for the alliance and requested support.
Gogoi mentioned that his party sought to contest only 15 assembly seats, but Congress was willing to offer just nine, which Raijor Dal found unacceptable.
He also asserted that the All India Congress Committee had previously indicated that the Dhing assembly constituency would be allocated to Raijor Dal. According to him, senior Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi had provided this assurance during negotiations.
Akhil Gogoi alleged that both the AICC and Pradyut Bordoloi had informed his party that the Dhing assembly seat would be granted to them. However, Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain later refused to agree to this arrangement. He stated that the dispute over this seat ultimately led to the collapse of the proposed alliance.
The Raijor Dal leader further accused Congress workers of staging protests against the proposed alliance in Dalgaon, claiming these demonstrations were not spontaneous. He suggested that the protests were conducted under direct instructions from the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, asserting that the Congress workers were acting on the leadership’s directives.
Political analysts believe this development is a significant blow to efforts for opposition unity ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Assam. Attempts to form a broad coalition among anti-BJP parties in the state were underway, but with the breakdown of talks, the likelihood of Raijor Dal contesting the elections independently has increased.
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