Five of the 16 candidates that the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) announced on Sunday night would be in a friendly fight with the Congress.
The Congress and the AIUDF had forged the mahajot or grand alliance along with six other parties, including the BJP’s former ally Bodoland People’s Front.
According to the first list of candidates released by AIUDF president Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and general secretary Aminul Islam, the friendly contest will be in Sarukhetri, Jaleswar, Dalgaon, Chenga and Baghbar.
The Congress had won four of these five “friendly” seats in 2016 while the AIUDF had won Jaleswar.
The AIUDF, however, replaced MLA Sahab Uddin Ahmed with Rafiqul Islam for the Jaleswar seat. It has also named Foni Talukdar instead of MLA Abul Kalam Azad for the Bhabanipur constituency.
The AIUDF has renominated nine MLAs, one of them being party president’s brother Sirajuddin Ajmal for the Jamunamukh constituency.
Among the five seats marked for friendly contest, AIUDF’s Rajib Ahmed will be up against Sherman Ali Ahmed of the Congress for the Baghbar seat. The latter had quit the AIUDF and joined the Congress ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls.
