Badruddin Ajmal’s perfume loses fragrance

GUWAHATI: The aura of success is fading. Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF, once the leading voice of Assam’s Muslim minority, has seen its share of seats in parliament plummet from 16 to just two, signaling a sharp decline in its political influence. bjphas a wider range, and congress‘ Merge and redraw the map.The 70-year-old businessman-politician, whose family-run fragrance company Ajmal Perfumes is a global brand, is back in action after the 2024 LS defeat in Dhubri. He defeated Binnakandi in Hojai. Mazibur Rahman took control of Dalgaon. Elsewhere, the party lost in lower Assam and the Barak Valley despite a turnout of over 90% in Muslim-majority constituencies.The surge in participation did not translate into votes for AIUDF. Instead, it solidified support for Congress, which swept most minority-majority seats. The constituency with more than 95 per cent Muslim voters – including Dhubri, Gauripur, Mankachar, Jaleshwar, Chenga and Samaguri – tilted firmly towards the Congress.Political analyst Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Chaudhry attributes the decline to leadership choices and perceptions. “Ajmal could have nominated someone else. A man who cannot walk properly has emerged as the candidate. This shows that they want to restrict gatherings to households,” he said.AIUDF staff pointed to “wrong candidate selection” and direct competition with Congress (unlike the 2021 alliance) as key factors. Rahman, who remains in Dargaon, saw the verdict as a wider defeat for the opposition. “We thought Gaurav Gogoi would become the chief minister, but he lost. It is painful,” he said, attributing his victory to local developments.It was formed after the repeal of the IMDT Act in 2005 and established a base among Bengali-speaking Muslims. Now, with no MP and two MLAs, its future looks uncertain.