Congress paid the price of pact with AIUDF in Assam: Experts (IANS Analysis)
By IANS| Published: 3rd May 2021 5:59 am IST
By Sujit Chakraborty
Guwahati, May 2 : The alliance with the AIUDF shattered Congress dream to capture power in Assam, though the grand old party performed better this time as compared to 2016, when it was defeated by the BJP after 15 years, experts and political commentators feel.
Political analysts categorically said that the Congress paid the price for the coalition with the Muslim-based body, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), in Assam.
Social activist and political commentator Ajoy Kumar Dutta said that the Congress tried to win the hearts of the people in Assam using the sentiments against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, but the Assamese and the indigenous people of the state could not accept the alliance with the AIUDF, led by perfume baron and Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal.
Assam abuzz over choice of next CM
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May 03, 2021 19:54 IST
While the BJP did not project a chief ministerial candidate, Health Minister Sarma is tipped for the post
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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (left) with senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma in April 2021. File
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
While the BJP did not project a chief ministerial candidate, Health Minister Sarma is tipped for the post
Election won, the buzz in the BJP camp is now around who will be the next Chief Minister of Assam.
The BJP did not project anyone as its chief ministerial candidate this time unlike in 2016 when the party’s campaign revolved around the “happiness” that Sarbananda Sonowal would ensure.
BJP and its allies’ comfortable win in the complex state of Assam makes history it is the first non-Congress party to win back-to-back elections to the 126-seat assembly.
Assam, once seen as a Congress bastion, is bisected by the Brahmaputra which divides the land into the north bank and the south bank. The southern belt is also home to hill districts where local parties are significant contenders. There is also the Bengali-dominated Barak valley where BJP has long had influence. Barring a handful of constituencies, the saffron party retained much of the gains it had made in 2016. The dumping of its old ally, the Bodoland People’s Party of Hangrama Mohilary (which had earlier allied with Congress under Tarun Gogoi), late last year did not slow its advance to office.
Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The BJP may have had a facile win in Assam but choosing the chief ministerial candidate could be a tightrope walk for its leadership.
The party did not have a CM face nor did its stalwarts – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah included – even once sought votes from the people in the name of incumbent CM Sarbananda Sonowal.
Both had patted Sonowal and his virtual deputy Himanta Biswa Sarma for the various development initiatives of the state’s BJP-led coalition government.
A day after the results were declared, MLAs, loyal to Sarma, got activated. They met him at his private residence on Monday morning. What transpired at the meeting was not known but one of them batted for the party strongman Sarma.
Analysis | Rise in the east helps Bharatiya Janta Party clinch Assam
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The saffron camp slipped a bit in the Barak Valley widely considered a stronghold
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BJP supporters celebrate after winning majority in Assam in BJP state head office in Guwahati. | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
The saffron camp slipped a bit in the Barak Valley widely considered a stronghold
The eastern region of Assam helped the BJP and its allies clinch Mandate 2021, although they bagged 11 seats fewer than in 2016.
Of the 47 seats in the first phase of polling, the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) bagged 37 seats, two more than five years ago. These seats covered six Lok Sabha constituencies straddling eastern, northern and parts of central Assam.