Guwahati: Amid speculation of a break-up in the opposition unity over alleged “delays” in a seat-sharing deal, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday held a closed-door meeting with Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi in Kaziranga.
After the meeting, Gaurav said the opposition unity remains intact and is at a more advanced stage than the NDA allies.
Raijor Dal general secretary Russel Hussain said a state executive meeting of the party in Guwahati later in the day decided to cut five seats from its earlier wish list for the upcoming assembly polls and expressed optimism about an alliance with Congress.
“The representatives of our executive met today and affirmed that they want our party to contest in 15 assembly seats as a constituent party of the opposition alliance. When we handed over the list to Congress last month, Raijor Dal gave a list of 20 seats where we were ready to contest the election. Our people are ready to relinquish a few seats but are hopeful of a strong opposition unity to defeat BJP and its allies,” Hussain said.
On Saturday, Akhil said Raijor Dal may take a final decision on Sunday on its alliance with Congress, amid speculation in sections of the opposition camp that the party could go solo. Gaurav travelled to Kaziranga on Sunday morning to meet Akhil. After the two-hour meeting, Akhil returned to Guwahati for the state executive meet.
“It was the beginning of a very positive discussion today. For two hours, we discussed Assam’s political situation and also talked about seats. The complexity is yet to be completely resolved, but the process started on a positive note,” Akhil said in Kaziranga. He had earlier set a Jan 31 deadline for Congress to decide on the seat-sharing deal.
Gaurav said Congress and other opposition parties are ahead of BJP and its allies on alliance politics. “There is infighting in BJP, but opposition parties respect each other,” he said, adding that Congress did not delay seat-sharing.
Earlier, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said the seat-sharing deal between BJP and its allies will be finalised between Feb 15 and 20.
Kangkan Kalita is a reporter with The Times of India and covers i...
Read MoreKangkan Kalita is a reporter with The Times of India and covers issues on health, education, stories of human interest while keeping a close watch on political developments and student movements. Reporting on environment and forest related issues and concerns of the northeast interest him equally.
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