The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has been a minority-based political force in Assam since its birth in October 2005 after the Supreme Court of India scrapped an allegedly pro-immigrant law. The Congress saw the party as its prime adversary in the State for a decade before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used it as a template for a grim future where so-called ‘Miya Muslims’ — a pejorative term for Bengali-speaking migrants in Assam — dominate the indigenous communities. Perfume baron Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal believes his party continues to be relevant in Assam’s polarised political landscape, unlike its predecessor, the United Minorities Front (UMF), which ran out of steam in 20 years. Excerpts from an interview:
Md Badruddin Ajmal during his campaign for the AIDUF.
Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi famously asked, ‘Who is Ajmal?’, when the AIUDF started its poll journey in 2006. Who or what is Badruddin Ajmal today?
Tarun Gogoi probably said that while relishing the Alphonso mangoes I used to gift him every year in crates. I used to be given a red-carpet welcome because his Congress government needed the votes of Bengali Muslims. He saw me as a threat as soon as I entered politics and said he would finish me off in six months, like former Congress Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia ended the UMF (formed in 1985 when the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation ended). I survived, and AIUDF became the second-largest party in 2011. I am still the same Badruddin Ajmal, but rival parties use my name and face to strike fear among the voters.
