AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal wins Binnakandi as party slumps to two MLAs

AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal returned to state politics by winning the newly created Binnakandi constituency, even as his party recorded its poorest performance in Assam Assembly elections with just two seats.

Ajmal defeated Rejaul Karim Chowdhury of the Assam Jatiya Parishad by 35,380 votes, polling 1,19,721 votes against Chowdhury’s 84,341. The opposition candidate had the backing of a united bloc. The ruling alliance fielded Shahab Uddin Majumdar of the Asom Gana Parishad, who finished third with 20,955 votes.

The win marks Ajmal’s return to state politics after his defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where he lost the Dhubri seat to Congress leader Rakibul Hussain. Ajmal had represented Dhubri in Parliament for three consecutive terms prior to that loss.

He entered electoral politics in 2006 after founding the All India United Democratic Front a year earlier, winning from South Salmara in his debut Assembly election. The party has since maintained a presence in Assam politics and is often seen as representing Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state.

Binnakandi, in Hojai district, is one of the constituencies created following the 2023 delimitation exercise, and Ajmal’s victory gives the party a foothold in the newly carved seat.

Despite the high-profile win, the AIUDF’s tally dropped sharply from 15 seats in the outgoing Assembly to just two. The only other winner from the party was Mazibur Rahman, who retained Dalgaon by defeating Independent candidate Md Aynul Hoque by over 28,000 votes.

The result marks a steep decline for the AIUDF, which had consistently secured more than 10 seats in previous Assembly elections.