MLAs of the Opposition parties in the 126-member Assam Assembly have been trading charges after the BJP and its ally, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), bagged two Rajya Sabha seats.
The election was held on March 31.
The BJP and the UPPL had fielded actor-politician Pabitra Margherita and Rwngwra Narzary respectively. Mr. Margherita’s win was a certainty, as the BJP and its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), had 82 votes.
Both candidates needed 43 votes to win. This meant Mr. Narzary was four votes short.
The election result, declared officially past midnight, said Mr. Margherita had received 46 votes and Mr. Narzary 44, eight more than they had together, indicating there was cross-voting.
War of words
This triggered a war of words between the Congress, the largest Opposition party, and the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by perfume baron and parliamentarian Badruddin Ajmal.
The two parties had formed the ‘mahagathbandhan’ or grand alliance to contest the 2021 Assembly polls. But the electoral debacle and the tendency to blame each other for the poor show made them drift apart.
The two parties appeared to be joining forces again after the AIUDF declared support for Ripun Bora, who the Congress had renominated for one of the two seats vacated. But trouble started ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls with the two parties accusing each other of selling five of their MLAs to the BJP.
Congress writes to poll panel
Drama ruled the election, with the Congress writing to the Election Commission of India to take action against four MLAs – two each of the BJP and the BPF – for showing the ballots while voting. The party also suspended one of its MLAs, Siddeque Ahmed, for writing “one” on his ballot paper instead of the requisite “1”. Another Congress MLA, Sashikanta Das, had been suspended earlier.
“The voting made it clear that the Congress could not keep its flock together. All of our 15 MLAs voted for the Congress candidate, as was decided, but they are trying to put the blame on us,” AIUDF leader Aminul Islam said.
State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah trashed the accusation, insisting all the MLAs, barring the suspended ones, obeyed the party whip.
The spat over horse-trading turned ugly with AIUDF legislator Karimuddin Barbhuiya accusing Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi of voting for the BJP after taking a huge sum. He also claimed he had videographic evidence to prove which MLAs took money from the BJP.
Mr. Gogoi countered by accusing Mr. Barbhuiya of being a broker. “I do not need a certificate from such people. People know who I am and what I think of the BJP,” he said.
