The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday achieved a historic victory in Assam after winning 82 of the 90 seats it contested.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept almost all the seats in upper Assam, with the party bagging 33 of the 35 seats, with the Congress and its ally Raijor Dal bagging just one seat each.
The same trend continued in central Assam and the three hill districts where the BJP along with its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) bagged almost all the seats and conceded only three seats, two of which to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and one to the Raijor Dal.
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“This is an unprecedented victory in electoral politics in Assam. We do not know whether such success can be repeated or surpassed in the coming years,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati.
The BJP managed to score some victories in lower Assam and the Barak Valley as well as its ally the Bodoland People’s Front, which won 10 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Council area.
On the other hand, Congress failed to make progress this time with several major candidates losing their seats.
They included Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, who lost to Jorhat, and opposition leader Debabrata Saikia, who failed to retain Nazira. The party won only Naoboicha seat in Upper Assam.
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who is part of the opposition alliance, failed to win in Khwang.
Congress managed to secure almost all its victories in lower Assam and Barak Valley seats.
Sarma said: “I do not want to base the election results on religious grounds. But the truth is that only one of the winning Congress Party candidates is a non-Muslim.”
“The result of the Assembly elections came as a surprise to us but we accept the judgment of the people. We congratulate all our winning candidates and hope they will play the role of constructive opposition sincerely,” said Peddabrata Bora, head of the Congress’ media department.
“The fact that the Congress was unable to secure victory in the seats that were its stronghold shows that it will be very difficult for the party to revive its fortunes in Assam,” said Kaustubh Deka, professor of political science at Dibrugarh University.
The BJP received over 37.81% of the total votes, which is about 5% more than in 2021. The Congress, on the other hand, saw a marginal increase from its 2021 figure of 29.67% to 29.84%.
