The power pendulum in Kerala has come to a rest. A repeat victory of the LDF is an unusual result and one reason could be that this happened in an unusual time. There is, of course, Covid, and prior to that the state was visited by series of disasters, from deadly Nipah to a once-in-a century deluge. And through these trying times, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has played the role of a pater familias, ‘karanavar’ in Malayalam, to a stressed-out population, imbuing a sense of guardianship.
Vijayan was also quick to address problems of the people, like during the sudden lockdown in early 2020, he could rustle up more than 1,000 community kitchens to feed the needy. The poll results show his quick reflexes during crises have earned rich political dividends.
Activists of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) allied with BJP celebrate after crossing the half way mark during counting day of Assam assembly polls
GUWAHATI: The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal (RD), two new political parties born out of the anti-CAA movement, not only failed to make a mark in the elections but also ended up helping BJP, their main opponent, by splitting opposition votes.
Insiders in both the parties blamed Congress’ decision to ally with AIUDF, which many caste Assamese organisations call a ‘communal party’. And this is being seen as the prime reason for votes swinging in BJP’s favour.
Massive victory of BJP, allies for protection of Assam s culture and civilisation: Himanta Biswa Sarma
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Massive victory of BJP, allies for protection of Assam s culture and civilisation: Himanta Biswa SarmaBy
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When asked about opposition parties and their performance, he said, “We always want good and strong opposition for it is good for democracy however they must not be engaged in appeasement policy”.
ANI
Assam finance Himanta Biswa Sarma said that massive victory of BJP and allies is for protection of culture and civilisation of Assam. People have reposed their trust on the development work initiated by Prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Himanta Biswa Sarma loves being the centre of attention, and has never shied away from working for it. That’s how he rose from student leader to BJP’s star in Assam. In his long political career, he has met defeat only once, in 1996, when he contested on a Congress ticket from Jalukbari.
Five years later, when he won a seat, CM Tarun Gogoi kept him on the bench for a year before inducting him as a minister of state. Sarma played second fiddle until 2015, when he challenged Gogoi’s leadership, but Congress chief Sonia Gandhi persuaded him to step back. When BJP poached him to breach Congress’ bastion, he steered the party to its first win in Assam in 2016, and became Amit Shah’s favourite. After that, he engineered the induction of BJP governments, alone or in alliance, in all the seven northeast states.