Pendulum
A pendulum is a device that keeps on swinging from one end to another with a weight attached to its base. The loyalty of the linguistic minority community is like a pendulum that keeps swinging from one end to another. Badruddin Ajmal, the AIUDF boss, admitted after his return from Mecca that 80 percent of people belonging to the said community opted for Congress, leaving him high and dry in the last general election. It simply proves that voters belonging to that particular community are the lifeline of both Congress and the AIUDF.
It is a proven fact that these voters usually vote in totality for a political party, which, I believe, is their political acumenship, unlike us, who are a divided house, and hence we are non-entities in state politics. The 2026 state assembly election is likely to see a rat race between Congress and the AIUDF to win over the loyalty of that particular community. There might be a pre-poll alliance between Congress and the AIUDF to keep the NDA at bay. In that case, the likes of Akhil Gogoi, Bhupen Bora, and one Ajit Bhuyan will be grinning.
We are waiting with our fingers crossed. What is AASU’s role? The less said, the better. JAI AI ASOM.
Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,
Guwahati