AIUDF to go alone for panchayat polls

"Ekla chalo (walk alone) is our policy. We want to contest on our own and with the kind of oprganisational structure we have built in last few years we are confident of seeing a big jump in our vote share," AIUDF Working President Aditya Langthasa told reporters.

The party today held a brainstorming session here to decide on its strategy for the polls.

Asked how AIUDF's tag as a party supported only by the minority community, Langthasa said AIUDF has built its organisational structure all over the state.

"We accept that our base is more stronger in minority dominated districts. But we have put lot of effort in raising our strength across all the state and now oour support base is strong among all communities," he said.

Besides organising 12 mass rallies in the minority dominated districts of lower Assam and Barak Valley, today's meeting also decided to hold similar exercises in upper Assam as well, the AIUDF leader said.

Langthasa said the party's membership in Assam has gone up to 12 lakh now from around six lakh in 2007.

He said the AIUDF's campaign will be headed by the party's President and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal.

"We have also formed full-fledged state committees in West Bengal and Maharashtra and leaders from thos states will also come here for campagning," Langthasa said. MORE