Congress pauses pre-poll alliance discussions with Raijor Dal, seat row stalls

Guwahati, March 11: Citing the inability of the two parties to create a favourable environment for a pre-poll understanding, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi said discussions on a possible electoral alliance with Raijor Dal for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections have been put on hold.

Gogoi in a social media post on Wednesday said that the Congress had sought an alliance with Raijor Dal in response to the aspirations of the people of Assam for a united Opposition in the Assembly elections.

“As the people of Assam wanted, we had sought an alliance with Raijor Dal in order to contest the upcoming Assembly elections as a united opposition,” Gogoi said.

“However, unfortunately, despite many efforts, we have not been able to create a favourable and hopeful environment for an alliance with Raijor Dal in the way the people of Assam had expected,” he added.

The Jorhat MP said that the primary objective of any electoral alliance is to realistically assess the winnability of seats and accordingly arrive at a workable arrangement.

“Keeping this aspect in mind, we had moved forward on the matter with a broad perspective through seat adjustments,” he stated.

However, Gogoi noted that various factors prevented the two parties from shaping the alliance in the manner desired by the people.

“Therefore, for the time being, we have decided to take a break from the issue of an alliance with Raijor Dal. We will reconsider the matter again at a later stage,” Gogoi announced.

Responding to the development, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he would have commented only if the alliance had materialised.

“I would have responded or commented if their alliance would have successfully concluded but since it failed, what should I comment?” he said.

Earlier, the Congress had expressed optimism that its stalled alliance talks with Raijor Dal could still produce a positive outcome.

On March 9, Gogoi had said efforts were continuing from the party’s side to conclude the alliance discussions during a joining programme in New Delhi where former AGP leader Jayanta Khaund joined the Congress.

Meanwhile, Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi on March 8 had indicated that differences over seat sharing, particularly the Dhing Assembly constituency, had stalled negotiations between the two parties.

He had also maintained that his party was open to an alliance in principle but not at the cost of its political strength in key seats.