Missed opportunity? AIUDF claims Congress failed to back joint Rajya Sabha candidate

AIUDF legislator Rafiqul Islam expressed disappointment over the Congress party’s alleged reluctance to support a joint candidate for the third Rajya Sabha seat from the state. 

Rafiqul Islam said that the opposition had an opportunity to jointly field a candidate for the third Rajya Sabha seat but the proposal failed to materialise due to the lack of response from the Indian National Congress leadership.

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, Islam said that three seats from Assam were vacant in the Rajya Sabha and Thursday was the final day for filing nominations. According to him, a joint opposition strategy could have enabled the Congress and AIUDF to put forward a common candidate for the third seat.

“Three seats were vacant in Assam for Rajya Sabha and today was the last day of nomination. AIUDF and Congress could have proposed a candidate together for the third Rajya Sabha seat,” Islam said.

The AIUDF MLA revealed that he had formally written to Congress leaders seeking their support for such a move but received no response. He alleged that despite AIUDF’s consistent support to the Congress in the past, the latter failed to reciprocate when the opportunity arose.

“I have even written to the leaders of Congress for their support, but unfortunately they did not respond to our request. We have supported Congress continuously, and they even promised to do so at the right time, but they did not,” he added.