Assam Congress MP Abdul Khaleque resigns from party after being denied Lok Sabha ticket
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) withdrew its candidate for Guwahati Lok Sabha for the sake of larger opposition unity, Lok Sabha MP from Barpeta Abdul Khaleque resigned from Congress. He was denied the party's ticket for this years’ parliamentary polls.
The Congress and the AAP are part of the INDIA bloc. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had named candidates to three out of 14 seats in Assam — Guwahati, Sonitpur, and Dibrugarh.
Congress has declared it will fight 13 seats and is expected to strike a seat-sharing deal with its regional ally Assam Jatiya Parishad for Dibrugarh. Already Congress in Assam has released a list of 12 candidates.
AAP has fielded Manoj Dhanowar from Dibrugarh while AJP has announced Lurinjyoti Gogoi as its candidate from this seat. The BJP has nominated former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its candidate from Dibrugarh.
«We are totally in shock by this approach of Congress, will it not be helping BJP by dividing the votes? Will it not help the BJP? The people of Assam want the opposition to remain united, only then we will be able to defeat the BJP» said the AAP.
The AAP said it has decided to make the «highest sacrifice» by withdrawing its candidate from Guwahati Lok Sabha seat to avoid any split in votes in the Opposition unity.
«We also challenge the Congress and the United Opposition Forum to reciprocate our gesture by withdrawing its candidate from Sonitpur and Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seats. Else, it will be clear that the Congress has a setting with the BJP and is fighting only to make sure
