The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly election in Assam as a constituent of the Congress-led grand alliance.
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Party leader Tejashwi Yadav , on a two-day visit to Assam, said he met State Congress president Ripun Bora and Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, an MP and chief of the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).
The Congress and the AIUDF are the two major constituents of the grand alliance that also has three Left Front parties and the regional Anchalik Gana Morcha.
“My meeting with the Congress and AIUDF leaders has been fruitful,” Mr Yadav told journalists in Guwahati on Saturday.
The RJD leader said his party would be targeting about 5% Hindi-speaking people who have been living in Assam after migrating from other States. “Hindi speakers are a significant number in 11 Assembly constituencies. We will contest seats where the chances are high,” he said.
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“Our effort in Assam will be to try and prevent the communal forces from forming the government. We will go to places where campaigning is required. We will also go to West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. We will place issues, which are in the interests of the country, before the people and let them decide,” Mr. Yadav said.
He was critical of the Election Commission of India for scheduling an eight-phase election in West Bengal and a three-phase one in Assam.
“Assam usually had two-phase polls. Do the three phases this time mean the atmosphere is not good? If so, isn’t the BJP-led government responsible?” he said.
Mr. Yadav panned the BJP for taking the tea plantation workers in Assam for a ride with tall promises that were not fulfilled. He also said the saffron party has robbed the country’s constitutional bodies of their independence.
“They brought the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by toying with the Constitution. We have come to Assam because it was the first State to oppose the CAA and the NRC (National Register of Citizens),” he said.
