Riding the wave for change, the BJP on Thursday scripted history in Assam by winning 60 of the total 126 seats of legislative Assembly, giving the Congress that had been ruling the State for the last 15 years, a major drubbing.
While the BJP won 60 seats, its partners, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won 14 seats followed by the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which secured 12 seats. While the BJP contested in 88 seats, the AGP had put up candidates in 24 constituencies only.
The BPF that is ruling in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) had put up candidates in 14 seats. Independent candidate from Borkhola constituency MI laskar also won the election defeating Congress heavyweight and parliamentary secretary Rumi Nath.
While the Congress, which had won 78 seats in the 2011 Assembly elections, could win only 26 seats this time, the principal Opposition party of Assam legislative Assembly, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) could win only 13 seats.
Interestingly, 11 of the Cabinet colleagues of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, including Sumitra Patir, Girindra Mallik, Siddique Ahmed, Chandan Sarkar, Atuwa Munda, Bismita Gogoi, Basanta Das, Ajit Singh, Tanka Bahadur Rai, Khorsing Engti and Sarat Borkotoky, bite the dust in the elections.
The main factors that helped the BJP win 60 seats this time included the party’s aggressive campaign ahead of the polls for protection of the Assamese identity. The party leaders convinced the people that only a BJP Government could protect the Assamese identity of the indigenous people and not the Congress.
The clean image of the saffron party’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal also ensured the landslide victory. Sonowal’s image as a Jatiya Nayak (national hero), a title conferred on him after he got the infamous Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) (IMDT) Act repealed by filing a case in the Supreme Court, connected with each and every person in the State.
Besides, Sonowal also had good connections with most of the tribal communities of the State, which boosted the party’s prospects.
Finally, the BJP played the masterstroke by bringing Sonowal, a Central Minister, to lead the election and subsequently declaring him as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate, thereby giving an option to the people of the State, who had been looking for a change.
The infighting within the ruling party also helped the BJP in the elections this time. While three-time Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi could save his chair from dissidence that badly affected the party in the last two years, he failed to put the house in order, leading to the party’s debacle in the elections.
Addressing a Press conference after the results were declared Sonowal said, “The people of Assam spontaneously responded to the appeal of the BJP and its alliance partners during the elections and it led us to victory. The people of Assam have been suffering a lot due to the misrule of the Congress for the last 15 years. They supported the BJP and its allies to form the Government as they have been desperately looking for a change.”
Sonowal said that the BJP along with its partners would form a Government in Assam that would work for overall development of the State. “People in Assam are scared of losing their identity in the face of illegal infiltration and vote bank politics of the Congress,” he added.
Accepting defeat, Gogoi said the party would play the role of a constructive Opposition in Assam. “We have accepted the mandate of the people. The people of Assam have given their mandate for the BJP and they wanted us to play the role of a constructive Opposition,” he said.
AIUDF chief Ajmal blamed the Congress for the party’s debacle in the polls and said that both the Congress and AIUDF lost as the Congress refused to form an alliance with it. “We have been repeatedly expressing our desire to form an alliance to keep the BJP out of power. Even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was favouring an alliance between the Congress and the AIUDF. However, the ruling party opposed this and so the debacle,” Ajmal said.