To thwart possible attempts of horse-trading by the ruling BJP, Assam’s minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Friday sent all its candidates of the recently-concluded Assembly elections to Congress-ruled Rajasthan in a chartered plane, perhaps being the first case when election contestants, not MLAs, have been put in a secure place.
As many as 22 candidates of the Opposition alliance led by the Congress in Assam have been flown to Jaipur amid fears that the BJP may try to lure them away ahead of election results due early next month. The candidates from Mahajot alliance are from the Maulana Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF. AIUDF is a component of Assam’s 10-party and Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition. It was formed two months back to oust the BJP from power.
They have been kept in the same Fairmont resort in Jaipur where Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had put his MLAs last July during the party’s internal crisis led by Sachin Pilot.
“It’s now a trend since the BJP tries to break the Congress after losing elections. So they (allies) want to take guard,” AICC chief spokesman Congress’s Randeep Singh Surjewala said confirming the developments.
Speculation is rife the candidates could be taken further to Dubai from Rajasthan as the results of the keenly-contested Assam elections will scheduled to be declared on May 2 comes closer.
“All of us have just landed in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Government has made arrangements for our stay,” one of the AIUDF candidates said as quoted by a Assam daily. He mentioned the AIUDF chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal though have not accompanied the team since he is in Mumbai.
AIUDF sources said the candidates would visit Ajmer Sharif during their stay. They will be provided with separate mobile phones so that others cannot contact them, sources said.
The AIUDF is not taking any chances given past experiences. In the last Manipur elections, the Congress had bagged 28 of the 60 seats and the BJP had won 22 but it managed to cobble up the numbers as some MLAs defected and form the Government.
Congress’s chief whip in the Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi said, “We will take care of people coming here. We don’t know from which political party they belong but there are around 20 people who have contested in the ongoing assembly elections in Assam from Opposition camp. The Congress will bear all their expenses. Till BJP is at the Centre, there will always be a possibility of buying MLAs.”
Assam, where the BJP came to power in the last elections, has completed the electioneering process in three phases between March 27 and April 6. The results will be declared along with the poll results in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.