Clarion India
GUWAHATI – Assam’s two bitter rivals Congress and Maulana Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) came together for the first time to put up anti-CAA activist and an editor, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan as their consensus candidate for Rajya Sabha election in the state.
“Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Maulan Badruddin Ajmal have approved Ajit Kumar Bhuyan as the common candidate of both Congress and AIUDF. The decision was taken in the backdrop of the present situation in Assam, where an anti-BJP and anti-CAA environment prevails and is spearheading the mass movement by various groups and the civil society,” Assam Pradesh Congress president and MP Ripun Bora was quoted by the Times of India as saying.
Reacting to Bhuyan’s nomination for the Rajya Sabha candidate, BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hit back saying that Bhuyan has insulted the intellectual fraternity of the state by choosing to take Ajmal’s support. “Now, it looks like that Bhuyan was opposing the CAA with an eye on the Rajya Sabha ticket. He has been always expressing his views in the interest of Assamese nationality and surprisingly now he has chosen to seek Ajmal’s support. He has insulted all the intellectuals of the state and it seems that has actually been speaking on behalf of Ajmal,” Sarma said.
Bhuyan, who was recently heading a private cable TV channel as editor-in-chief quit amid the anti-CAA protests in the state. Bhuyan has been one of the leading voices among several editors and journalists opposing the controversial central act. Election will be held for three Rajya Sabha seats in the state on March 26. BJP and its allies will contest in two seats.
