BJP wins a second term with a comfortable margin in Assam
As predicted by most exit polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to return to power in Assam, becoming the first non-Congress government to win consecutive terms in the northeastern state. The Congress-led alliance came a distant second. Key BJP leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Ranjeet Kumar Dass all won.
GUWAHATI: As predicted by most exit polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in Assam, becoming the first non-Congress government to win consecutive terms in the northeastern state.
Official trends and leads for 126 seats available till 10pm showed that BJP and its allies have won or were leading in 74 seats in comparison to the Congress and its allies, which had won or were ahead in 50 seats. A party or alliance needs 64 seats to form government.
The BJP on its own had won or was leading in 59 seats, while its alliance partner the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) were ahead in nine and six seats, respectively.
“Based on the performance of our government, and the election strategy and campaign put in place by the party leadership, we were confident of winning in Assam. We are grateful to voters for reposing faith in us for the next five years and will work with renewed energy for them,” said BJP spokesperson Subhash Dutta.
The Congress won or was leading in 30 seats, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) was leading in 16, the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) in four seats and the CPI(M) in one seat.
Key candidates from BJP, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal , senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass have all won.
Congress state president Ripun Bora is trailing BJP’s Utpal Borah in the Gohpur seat and the party’s leader in the legislature Debabrata Saikia was leading the BJP’s Mayur Borgohain in the Nazira seat.
In 2016, the BJP won 60 seats and formed its first government in Assam with support of the AGP (14) and the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which won 12 seats. The Congress won 26 seats and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) 13.
A number of factors helped the BJP retain power despite the Congress putting together a rainbow coalition of 10 parties, which included the AIUDF and the BPF.
“The BJP unleashed a multipronged strategy for Assam election and it benefited them. One of the key reasons for the BJP’s win was targeted intervention aimed at almost all communities by several schemes launched by the Sonowal government,” said Kausthabh Deka, professor of political science, Dibrugarh University.
The BJP also managed to play on the issue of identity. “The BJP managed to create a narrative about a clash of civilisations by telling voters Assamese ‘sanskriti’ (culture) and identity was under threat from Muslims of Bangladeshi-origin and targeted Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF, which formed an alliance with the Congress,” said Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science in Gauhati University.