BADARUDDIN AJMAL URGES PRESIDENT TO TAKE NOTE OF ARMY CHIEF’s POLITICAL REMARK ON HIS PARTY

AIUDF chief Badaruddin Ajmal on Thursday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to ‘take note’ of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s remarks about his party. He accused Rawat of ‘indulging in politics’ against his mandate. Reacting to the remark on Twitter, Ajmal called it a “political statement” and said it was “shocking”. “Why is it a concern for the Army chief that a political party, based on democratic and secular values, is rising faster than the BJP?” he wrote. “Alternative parties like the AIUDF and AAP have grown because of the misgovernance of big parties.”

While talking about migrants from Bangladesh coming to North East India on Wednesday, Rawat had said the Assam-based party had ‘grown faster’ than the Bharatiya Janata Party did over the years. The party, which Ajmal launched in 2005, has been gaining ground in Assam’s Muslim-dominated constituencies and now has three MPs in the Lok Sabha and 13 MLAs in the Assam Assembly.