Assam elections: Three MLAs among nine candidates announced in first AIUDF list

GUWAHATI

Three MLAs and a former Congress legislator are among the first list of nine candidates announced by the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) late Monday (March 9, 2026) night.

The list released by AIUDF president and perfume baron, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, includes two women and a former president of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU), who was in the Congress for three days.

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The three MLAs in the list are Nizanur Rahman, who seeks to retain the Gauripur constituency, Aminul Islam, shifted from Dhing to the Rupahihat seat, and Rafiqul Islam, named from Mandia after Jania, the constituency he represents, ceased to exist after the 2023 delimitation exercise.

Former Congress MLA Abu Taher Bepari, who joined the AIUDF in 2025, will contest from Parbatjhora. He had finished second behind Mr. Ajmal in the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 and 2019.

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Former AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar has been fielded from the Srijanpur constituency. In January, he resigned from Congress three days after joining it, following a backlash over his statement about turning Sivasagar into Dhubri and Dhubri into Sivasagar.

Sivasagar is the Assamese heartland, while Dhubri is a Bengali Muslim-dominated district. The two women candidates in the list are Minakshi Rahman, nominated from the Paka Betbari seat, and Sabana Aktar from the Bilasipara constituency. Ms. Rahman was the AIUDF candidate from the Sarukhetri constituency in 2021.

The remaining two candidates are Siddique Ahmed from Laharighat and Matiur Rahman from Dhing.

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The AIUDF received a setback a few days ago when three of its MLAs — all in southern Assam’s Barak Valley — resigned. They are Karim Uddin Barbhuiya (Sonai seat), Abdul Aziz (Badarpur), and Zakir Hussain Laskar (Hailakandi).

The minority-dominated AIUDF won 16 Assembly constituencies in 2021. It was then a constituent of the 16-party Mahajot (grand alliance) led by Congress. The two parties fell out after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance retained power.