National People’s Party (NPP) candidate for Assam’s Kaliabor constituency Abdul Aziz was attacked while campaigning at Gerua in Nagaon district on Thursday.

Aziz narrowly escaped being hit by the attackers but three of his supporters, Sohrab Ali, Abu Taher and Saddam Hussein, were injured. “Their intention was to kill me. I was lucky that my personal security officer somehow managed to get me into the car and we sped away from the spot,” Aziz told The Telegraph over phone.

“However, three of my supporters were injured and four vehicles of my convoy were damaged in the attack. One of the injured had to be admitted to hospital,” he added.

Aziz said the attackers were armed with sticks and spades and also threw bricks and stones at them. He said he was attacked while on his way to address a poll meeting.

“The attackers used abusive language and accused me of trying to split Congress votes. They called NPP a B-team of the BJP and accused our national president Conrad Sangma of having a tacit understanding with Neda convener Himanta Biswa Sarma to defeat the Congress in the polls,” he said.

One of the vehicles damaged in the attack Picture by UB Photos

Aziz lodged an FIR at Khatowal police station, claiming that the attackers were goons of former Congress minister and Samaguri MLA Rakibul Hussain and Congress MLA from Rupohihat Nurul Huda.

The Congress vehemently denied Aziz’s allegation that Congress supporters were behind the attack. “It is a baseless allegation. No one from our party is involved in the incident,” PCC spokesperson Rituparna Konwar said.

NPP state convener Dilip Kumar Bora said, “I condemn the attack on our candidate in the strongest possible terms and demand stringent action against the culprits.”

He alleged that some parties were resorting to such acts because they were apprehensive about the growing popularity of the NPP.

Bora said he had informed the chief electoral officer of Assam and returning officer of Nagaon and sought action against the perpetrators.

Nagaon superintendent of police Shankar Barata Raimedhi said based on Aziz’s complaint, a case had been registered and investigations were on.