Congress dismisses reports of 'horse-trading' in Assam, calls it rumor-mongering by BJP

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leaders today affirmed that the party's leadership has no fears of horse-trading (political negotiation accompanied by shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions) by the BJP and that none of their candidates will be switching over to the saffron side anytime soon.

This comes amid reports that the Congress-led Mahajot has kept its election candidates in secret locations in Congress-ruled states so as to prevent the BJP from approaching them. A 16-member All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) yesterday returned to Guwahati after a brief sojourn in Jaipur's luxurious Fairmont Hotel.

"Not a single Mahajot candidate will shift camps," Congress' Assam-in-charge Jitendra Singh asserted while addressing media persons here. "Let me clarify that the BJP is doing rumor-mongering about horse-trading as they are not getting the majority as the Congress will win the election by a huge margin."

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Asked about the AIUDF leaders' brief stay at Jaipur and if it implied that the party is wary about horse-trading, he said, "After the election, everybody gets tired as they have all been busy with the electioneering for 2-3 months. They had gone to Ajmer Sharif -- it is a very pious place and they were all itching to go there.

The Congress party's leaders, including many candidates, today met at the Kiranshree hotel on the outskirts of Guwahati city in order to discuss the party's strategy in the days leading up to the election.

"The party high-command did not meet us as we were all campaigning in our home constituencies during the election. Our next step is to ensure that we stay alert about the BJP's pressure or the Election Commission's carelessness," said Nazira MLA and former leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia.

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