Scent of Success

Ajmal,however,said he would not make any “big bargain”,but would definitely consider taking on a ministerial berth if offered one. He also made it clear that though he spent more than two years in direct confrontation with veteran Congress leader and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi,he is willing to bury the hatchet. “I am no longer interested in continuing this politics of confrontation. What is the use?” Ajmal said.

It may be recalled that Tarun Gogoi asked ‘Who is Ajmal?’ when the perfume tycoon suddenly plunged into politics and floated the AUDF. But,as Ajmal first won 10 Assembly seats that almost led to the defeat of the Congress government in 2006,and now with a Lok Sabha win,his detractors have been forced to take notice.

“I had said so when he was not even an MLA. But today he is also an MP,and things have changed. He is most welcome to extend support to the UPA,” Gogoi said on Saturday.

Ajmal,who contested from two seats,Silchar and Dhubri,won the latter by defeating sitting Congress MP Anwar Hussain by a margin of over 1.30 lakh votes. In Silchar,Ajmal came second to Kabindra Purkayastha (BJP) by 41,450 votes,but his tally of 2,02,056 votes contributed towards the routing of Santosh Mohan Deb,who came a poor third.

Ajmal is now looking forward to his foray into the national arena. “Now I not only have a greater responsibility for the state,but will also get a wider horizon to work. I also must make clear that I am not a Muslim leader,and two of my 10 MLAs are non-Muslims,” he said.

“My priorities include settling some long-pending issues pertaining to Assam. Number one is complete sealing of the India-Bangladesh border. I will also fight for measures to tackle floods and erosion,and of course unemployment,” Ajmal said. On the national plane,he added,he will,“press the government for speedy implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendations”.