Guwahati, Feb 23 : The nascent political outfit of the Adivasi/tea tribes and the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) are looking at options for a possible alliance ahead of the parliamentary elections. 

Several tea organisations of the state propped up the National People’s Party (NPP) early this month accusing the Congress of failing to protect the interests of the tea/Adivasi communities in a repeat of a similar coming together of minority organisations to float the AUDF in 2005.

The blending of the two community-based political parties could be a major source of concern for the ruling Congress as the minority and the tea communities have been the traditional vote base of the party.

The two backward communities individually dominate in more than half of the parliamentary seats of the state.

The tea community is a deciding factor in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Koliabor, Tezpur and Lakhimpur parliamentary constituencies. The minority Muslim community plays a decisive role in Nagaon, Barpeta, Dhubri and Silchar seats. The two communities have significant presence in Mangaldoi and Kokrajhar parliamentary constituencies.

Disclosing the hush-hush political parleys between the two political parties, the general secretary of the NPP, Ashok Sandiguria, said today that it had received feelers for an alliance from the AUDF and that his party was considering the proposal. 

He said such an alliance could emerge as a major political force in the state in the long run as the communities the two parties represent jointly could decide the political future of the state. 

AUDF working president Hafiz Rashid Choudhury, however, was more cautious in his comment about a possible alliance saying his party was open to the idea.

He said today as the AUDF already had an alliance with the Left parties and the NCP, their opinion would also have to be taken before cementing any deal with the NPP. 

Elaborating his party’s strategy, another leader of the NPP said that with the present organisation set-up, both the NPP and the AUDF could not perhaps compete with the Congress in the minority-dominated areas and the tea belts, but could jointly take away a major chunk of Congress’s traditional vote thus causing major upsets for the ruling party. 

The Congress is trying its best to convince the influential tea bodies that are backing the NPP not to immediately pass a no-confidence motion against it.

To sway these groups in its favour, the ruling Congress has initiated some exclusive development schemes for the tea/Adivasi communities.