GUWAHATI, June 15 � After winning three seats during last year�s Lok Sabha polls, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has now set its sight on contesting all the 126 Assembly constituencies of Assam in the next year�s Vidhan Sabha polls and to spread its organisational strength among the electorate of the majority community, particularly upper caste voters.
Senior AIUDF leaders told The Assam Tribune that the party is keen to expand its presence beyond its traditional minority support base and is likely to allot more tickets to Assamese and Bengali Hindus, tea tribes and schedule tribe candidates to augment its base.
�It is true that most of our support during previous elections came from the minority voters. However, our elected representatives in both the Legislative Assembly and the Lok Sabha have been raising their voices on issues which affect all segments of the society. We want to make the party more acceptable among voters from the majority community,� said a senior party leader.
He added, �We have got the tag of being a party representing the minorities because most of our elected representatives have emerged victorious from minority-dominated constituencies. But the fact is that we have been allotting tickets to people from all communities. During the last Assembly polls and in panchayat elections, most of our candidates were not from the minority community. Even in the recent BTAD polls, half of our candidates were not from the minority community, and out of our four winners � two were Bodos and the other two were Muslims.�
Party leaders said that AIUDF�s election manifestoes in the past have included issues like flood and erosion, unemployment, corruption and price rise, science and technology, tourism and environment and the practice will be replicated in the 2016 Assembly polls as well.
�We have been demanding an action plan for preservation of Ahom era monuments and of historic and religious sites like Madan Kamdev. Issues like jobs and inflation affect every community,� said a party office-bearer.
Asked how many seats the party is confident of winning, he said, �So far we have set the target on winning the maximum number of seats possible. We do not want to be satisfied with winning 35 or 40 seats.�
AIUDF has also decided to go on an offensive in the social media arena, following the footsteps of other parties.
AIUDF won 18 seats during the 2011 Assembly polls. It astounded political pundits by emerging victorious in three of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies during last year�s parliamentary elections.
