Assam Congress loses its Muslim, tea- tribe voters

In what has set the alarm bail ringing for ruling Congress party, the Modi-wave has not only incurred the loss of seats to the ruling Congress party but has also grabbed its last bastion of traditional tea- tribe voters in Assam.

The Congress managed to win only three seats against the seven it held in 2009. This is the lowest tally for the party in Assam.

If trend and vote margin of the BJP candidate was any indicator the ruling Congress party’s vote share came down significantly to 29.6 per cent in 2014 from 34.89 per cent of 2009. The emergence of All India United Democratic Front in 2005 has already dented Muslim votes of the Congress party. In 2014, AIUDF walked away with three Lok Sabha seats. The party has snatched two Lok Sabha seats — Barpeta and Karimganj from the Congress party. Though, AIUDF has lost 2 per cent votes in comparison to 2009 Lok Sabha elections in which party had made its

● The BJP has not only capitalised antiforeigners sentiment to win over Assamese voters but has also made a significant in road in the tea garden areas

presence felt by snatching Dhubri Lok Sabha seat from the Congress party.

Riding the Modi- wave the BJP got highest ever 36.5 per cent vote and won seven Lok Sabha seats. The party has not only capitalised anti- foreigners sentiment to win over Assamese voters but has also made a significant in road in the tea garden areas. The Congress was defeated in majority of the constituencies dominated by tea- garden workers.

The BJP retained three seats — Guwahati, Nowgong and Mangaldoi and made inroads into the traditional Congress stronghold among tea garden workers and Adivasi communities in upper and northern Assam to wrest four seats — Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Jorhat and Tezpur.