CONGRESS GAME PLAN FOR ASSAM

The Congress is playing the role of a supporting cast in all the states going for polls, with the exception of Assam where it is in a direct fight against the ruling BJP. And interestingly this is one state where the Congress fancies its chances. There is much resentment against the BJP both for the CAA and the NRC, as well as for it not living up to its earlier campaign promise of giving ST status to five tribes. What the BJP has in its favour is a strong regional leadership in both Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma, which the Congress lacks ever since the demise of ex Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. However, the party is not giving up without a fight. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been made “observer” to oversee election preparations in the state. It is to be noted that he is the Congress CM with the deepest pockets at the moment. Congress general secretary, Jitender Singh Alwar, who has been given charge of the state, is also working actively on ground to stitch up a formidable five-party alliance to take on the BJP. This includes the CPM, CPI, CPI(ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha and AIUDF. Interestingly, during the last elections, AIUDF leader Maulana Badruddin Ajmal had contested alone and eaten into the anti BJP vote bank. If you recall, in 2016, the BJP won 86 of 126 seats, with close to 42% votes; while the Congress got 26 seats and the AIUDF had got 13 seats with 13% vote share. At the time it was the then BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and Sarma who had “convinced” Ajmal to contest alone. But with all things Congress the main question remains: will they once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?