Assam polls 2021: RJD joins Congress-led Grand Alliance; party to contest from Tinsukia seat in first phase

Guwahati: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday said that it has joined the opposition Congress-led ‘Grand Alliance’ in Assam and will contest one seat during the first phase of the assembly election. With this, the number of constituents in the Grand Alliance has gone up to eight. RJD Assam president Shonarul Shah Mustafa told PTI that the party has formally joined the opposition grouping and it will contest the Tinsukia constituency which will go to polls during the first phase on 27 March. “Now talks are on between central leaders of the RJD and the Congress to finalise the seat-sharing agreement for the second and third phase of polling,” he said. Mustafa said that the party has fielded Hira Devi Choudhury for Tinsukia, which has a large number of Hindi- speaking people. State Congress spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma confirmed that the RJD has joined the Grand Alliance. Earlier, the Grand Alliance consisted of the Congress, AIUDF, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM). It was formed to fight the upcoming election for the 126-member assembly against the BJP-led NDA. Out of the 47 seats where voting will be held in the first phase, Congress will contest 43 constituencies. The AIUDF, CPI(ML), AGM and the RJD will fight in the four other seats, Sharma said. Polling will be held in 47 on 27 March in the first phase, while 39 and 40 constituencies will go to polls on 1 April and 6 April respectively.