BJP Registers Landslide Victory In Assam
Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance on Monday achieved a landslide victory in the Assam assembly polls, winning 100 out of 126 seats, reaffirming the political ascendancy of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The BJP created history by winning 82 seats on its own, with its allies Bodoland People’s Front winning 10 seats and Asom Gana Parishad winning 8 seats. The Opposition Congress has been reduced from 29 seats to 19 seats in 2021.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was elected by a stunning margin of over 87,000 votes against his nearest rival, Congress candidate Bidisha Neog, from Jalukbari.
The landslide victory of the BJP-led alliance marked a decisive setback for the Congress-led opposition as most opposition strongmen, including Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, lost the elections. Incumbent MP and state Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi lost the assembly polls from Jorahat seat. While he received 46,257 votes, BJP’s Hitendra Nath Goswami retained the seat for the third consecutive term by securing 69,439 votes.
The most visible loss of this election was the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which fell from 16 seats to just two constituencies in 2021.
The outcome also reflected the Congress’ failure to win back its traditional support bases, despite leadership changes and a desperate campaign to regain lost ground. The party’s failure to regain the trust of the Ahom community, tea garden tribes and even the Muslim voter groups that once formed the party’s base in Upper Assam resulted in decimation of the party in key constituencies.
The Congress-led alliance in Assam, comprising prominent figures of the Ahom community Gaurav Gogoi (Congress), Akhil Gogoi (Raijor Dal) and Lurinjyoti Gogoi (Assam Jatiya Parishad), strategically aimed to leverage the dominant Ahom vote bank in Upper Assam. However, the results show that the alliance has failed to regain the trust of the Ahom community, with opposition leader Debabrata Saikia trailing by over 40,000 votes from Nazira constituency in Upper Assam’s Sibsagar district. He lost to the BJP.
The result also showed that in a highly polarized election, the minority lost faith in the Congress, but constituency delimitation reduced the minority-dominated seats, which failed to help the Congress increase its number of seats.
The opposition has consistently argued that delimitation “squeezes” minority voters into fewer constituencies. Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of “hijacking” the process, alleging that it was dividing anti-BJP districts for electoral gains.
Meanwhile, Assam education minister and senior BJP leader Ranoj Pegu retained Dhemaji constituency by defeating his nearest rival Sailen Sonowal of Congress by 32,229 votes, according to the assembly poll results declared by the Election Commission.
Pegu got 83,649 votes while Sonowal got 51,420 votes.
The Assam minister, who is responsible for issues such as education and tribal affairs in the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government, was first elected to the assembly from Dhemaji in the 2017 general election.
Most ministers of the BJP-led government had a significant lead over their closest rivals in their constituencies by the time the vote count was completed. According to the election commission, vote counting has been completed in most of the constituencies but the official announcement is awaited. Leading ministers at the time of completion of polls include — Chandra Mohan Patowary (BJP) – Tihu, Atul Bora (AGP) – Bokakhat, Keshab Mahanta (AGP) – Kaliabor, Ranjeet Kumar Dass (BJP) – Bhowanipur-Sorbhog, Ajanta Neog (BJP) – Golaghat, Pijush Hazarika (BJP) – Jagiroad.
And Ashok Singhal (BJP) – Dhekiajuli.
Two former Congress leaders, Bhupen Borah and former MP Pradyut Borodoloi, who joined the BJP just before the elections and contested the assembly polls on a BJP ticket, also won their respective seats.
