Yogendra Yadav makes last-ditch effort to save Congress–Raijor Dal alliance for Assam Assembly polls

Guwahati: With the alliance between Opposition Congress and Raijor Dal, a regional party led by MLA Akhil Gogoi, heading for a possible collapse over seat sharing for the Assembly elections in Assam, Yogendra Yadav, a psephologist and founder of Swaraj Abhiyan, is making a last ditch effort for reaching a deal.

Working president of Raijor Dal, Bhasco Di Saikia, said Yadav met them and leaders of the Congress for finalising the seat sharing arrangements in order to put up a strong fight for unseating BJP and its allies.

Saikia said the seat sharing deal has not yet become a reality due to Congress' reluctance to give them just one more seat preferred by them.

"We want a united fight against the BJP and we have made a lot of sacrifices towards that goal. Initially, we sought 28 seats but later we reduced the same to 15 seats. But Congress has offered us just four seats from the list of our preferences. They have proposed us for friendly fights in another four and have offered us five seats where we did not want to put up our candidates. But now, we have just requested Congress to give one more seat from the list of our preferences," he said.

"We are hoping that something positive will come out of Yogendra Yadav's efforts," he said. Saikia, however, did not reveal the names of the constituencies.

Assam has 126 assembly constituencies, elections for which are slated in April.

Yadav-Akhil ties

Yadav, who was part of Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party, share good relations with Akhil Gogoi, an RTI activist-turned politician. Gogoi, who was also a part of the core committee of Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption campaign, formed Raijor Dal and was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2021.

Akhil was then in jail in connection with a case registered during the anti-CAA agitation in Assam in 2020. Akhil, who heads Raijor Dal, is the lone MLA (from Sivasagar).

In November last year, Congress and five other opposition parties (excluding Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF) decided to contest the Assembly elections together. But the tussle over seat sharing weeks ahead of the polls raised fears about collapse of the alliance with Raijor Dal.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi recently said the seat sharing understanding with other partners including the Asom Jatiya Parishad, another similar regional party, and the left parties, is complete.