Assam: BJP scores a hat-trick
The ruling BJP-led NDA has secured third consecutive term in Assam. In Assam, the BJP won 82 seats out of 126 seats and the Congress got only 19 seats, with the failure of Gaurav Gogoi of more than 23,000 votes. BJP’s allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) has secured 10 seats each.
“Hat-Trick with a century!” a jubilant Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X and thanked the people of Assam, after winning from his long-time held seat — Jalukbari with a majority of 89,434 votes.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP office here, Sarma said, “It is an unprecedented victory for a ruling alliance. It is for the first time that the BJP has secured a majority in the State.” On the Congress’s performance, Sarma said, “People have punished them for politicising singer Zubeen Garg’s death.”
He further claimed that barring one or two, there will be no Hindu MLAs in the Opposition.
He went on to urge “good” Hindu Congress leaders to join the BJP to secure the state’s future and fight the “aggression” of “Bangladeshi Miyas”.
He said BJP’s victory in West Bengal is positive news for Assam. “The BJP’s victory in West Bengal is positive news for Assam. Now, the India-Bangladesh border will be fenced, which is essential to protect our nation’s sovereignty,” he said.
“This is the country’s victory rather than the BJP’s win,” Sarma added, who had campaigned extensively for the Assembly polls there. He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of not allotting land for border fencing.
Agriculture Minister Atul Bora of the AGP bagged the Bokakhat seat by a margin of 60,537 over Hari Prasad Saikia of the Raijor Dal. Cabinet Minister and BPF leader Charan Boro retained his Mazbat constituency, defeating the nearest JMM rival by over 55,000 votes. Assam’s Minister for Information and Public Relations, Pijush Hazarika, won the Jagiroad assembly seat by 93,584 votes.
AIUDF supremo and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal returned to State politics by winning the newly-created Binnankandi constituency, even as his party was reduced to merely two MLAs in its worst-ever Assembly election performance. He won by a margin of 35,380 votes, by defeating Assam Jatiya Parishad’s (AJP) Rejaul Karim Chowdhury. Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi retained the Sibsaar assembly constituency for the second consecutive term, defeating the BJP’s Kushal Dowari by 17,272 votes.
Among the prominent BJP winners are Ministers Ajanta Neog (Golaghat), Ranoj Pegu (Dhemaji), Kaushik Rai (Lakhipur), Prashanta Phukan (Dibrugarh), Krishnendu Paul (Patharkandi) and Bimal Borah (Tingkhong). Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary won from the Tamulpur constituency by defeating former BTC chief Pramod Boro of the UPPL.
Among the prominent candidates who lost the polls are Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia, Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Saikia, and former Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Ripun Bora.
