Assam: Badruddin Ajmal declares AIUDF 'real Opposition' after Binakandi win, tears into Congress

AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, fresh from his victory in the Binakandi constituency, turned his attention squarely on Congress on May 7, accusing the party of abandoning its opposition duties in Assam and colluding with the BJP to undermine his party.

 

Speaking to supporters after the results, Ajmal said Congress had transformed into what he called something resembling the Muslim League and had ceased to function as a credible voice against the ruling establishment. "Congress cannot play the role of the Opposition. AIUDF will now take up that responsibility inside the Assembly," he said.

 

The remarks carry particular weight given the AIUDF's reduced footprint in the Assembly. Despite returning a handful of seats, Ajmal was defiant, insisting that even a single AIUDF legislator would carry the force of a hundred in the House. He promised sustained opposition to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's government in the coming months.

 

Ajmal trained his sharpest criticism on Congress's silence over what he described as five years of fear and humiliation faced by Muslims in Assam. He pointed specifically to electoral rhetoric targeting the Miya community, arguing that minority voters had expected Congress to stand its ground but were left disappointed. In his view, the party's inaction created a vacuum that neither Congress nor any other opposition force filled credibly.

 

The AIUDF president also took aim at Congress heavyweights Gaurav Gogoi and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, suggesting they had failed to protect even their own political standing, let alone those of the communities that backed them.

 

Going further, Ajmal linked policies such as detention centres, D-voter classifications and eviction drives to the legacy of previous Congress administrations in Assam, including the tenure of the late Tarun Gogoi. It was a pointed attempt to strip Congress of any moral high ground on issues that disproportionately affect Muslim and Bengali-origin communities in the state.

 

Ajmal also alleged that Congress and the BJP had coordinated against the AIUDF during the election cycle, framing his party's survival as a victory against a two-front effort to marginalise it. "Now the real game will begin. We will see how strongly Congress opposes the government," he said.

 

On internal matters, Ajmal pushed back against suggestions that legislators had deserted the party, insisting that those who left had been removed by the party itself following internal disagreements rather than walking away of their own accord.