Guwahati, March 11 Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday said the party had made sincere efforts to forge an electoral alliance with Raijor Dal ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, but discussions between the two sides could not lead to a favourable outcome.
In a post on social media, Gogoi said the Congress had attempted to build a united opposition platform in line with the aspirations of the people of Assam, who wanted opposition forces to contest the elections together.
"Keeping in mind the wishes of the people of Assam, we wanted to form an alliance with Raijor Dal so that the opposition could contest the upcoming Assembly elections in a united manner," he said.
Gogoi, however, noted that despite several attempts and discussions, the two parties could not create what he described as a "conducive and hopeful environment" for an alliance.
He said the primary objective of any electoral alliance is to maximise the realistic chances of winning seats and strengthening the opposition against the ruling dispensation.
"While keeping this principle in mind, we approached the seat-sharing discussions with a broad and flexible perspective and tried to move forward through mutual adjustments," Gogoi said.
Despite those efforts, he added, several issues prevented the two parties from shaping the alliance in the manner expected by the people of the state.
"As a result, we have decided to take a temporary pause from the process of forming an alliance with Raijor Dal. We will review the matter again in the future," he said.
Earlier, Raijor Dal president and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi had also indicated that talks between the two parties had not reached a final agreement.
Gogoi had maintained that his party was keen on forming a united opposition front but differences over seat-sharing and political strategies made it difficult to finalise the alliance at this stage.
Political observers say the pause in alliance discussions may complicate efforts to build a broader opposition coalition in Assam ahead of the next Assembly elections, although both sides have indicated that the possibility of cooperation could still be revisited later.
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