‘This time, I will get votes of our Hindu brothers as well’
The politics of the All India United Democratic Front supremo, who is also known as ‘perfume baron’, is often portrayed in terms of the binaries that plays out in Assam; the three-term Lok Sabha member from Dhubri is con dent of a win again
Congress has no agenda except to uproot me, says Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, as he seeks a fourth term as MP. This time, he says, Hindus will vote for him as they do not want to waste their vote on Asom Gana Parishad. In an exclusive interview he tells The Hindu why he is condent of a victory this time. Excerpts:
Is this your toughest election as you are facing Congress’ Deputy Leader in the Assam Assembly, Rakibul Hussain?
All I can say is that a man has surrendered if he starts asking others to come and ght his battle. Come and save me, come from Delhi and save me [referring to Priyanka Vadra campaigning for Mr. Hussain] .... it means he has either accepted defeat or surrendered.
Do you see this as a battle for Muslim vote?
This time, I will get the votes of our Hindu brothers as well. That’s because they would not want to waste their vote on Javed Islam [BJP ally, Asom Gana Parishad] as he won’t get more than 70,000-75,000 votes. And Hindus don’t vote for the Congress. They know that I don’t do Hindu-Muslim but want to educate people.
What are your main issues for this election?
The NRC and the CAA are among the main issues.
You had tied up with
Congress in the Assembly elections in 2021 but had a bitter falling out. Why?
They had to close their shop of making money as I acted as the watchman.
The Congress alleges you to be the B-team of the BJP.
In the Rajya Sabha elections, Congress MLAs voted for the BJP and Bhupen Bora [Assam Congress chief] agreed that they have traitors in the party.
PM has said that UCC will be brought and CM Sarma has proposed a ban on polygamy.
Look, the biggest issue here is the Prime Minister had promised two crore jobs to people, bring back black money and give ₹15 lakh to every family. Now, when people ask him about these promises, he says we will bring a law on UCC, triple talaq and other such laws. As far as Himanta Biswa Sarma is concerned, he is saying these things to please his bosses.
PM Modi has said that if Congress comes to power, wealth including mangalsutras of the Hindus would be taken away and given to inltrators.
Such statements will only help the Congress get votes of the Muslim community across the country.