Tag: Assam elections

  • Assam: Counting underway for Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council elections

    By ANI

    KARBI ANGLONG: The counting of votes for Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) elections are underway.

    According to the reports, the ruling BJP is leading in 23 out of 26 Council seats in the initial trend.

    The fate of 154 candidates who contested in the KAAC elections will be declared on Sunday and the counting of votes are underway at Diphu, Bokajan and Hamren.

    The district administration of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong district has arranged tight security measures and put up strict supervision for the counting process.

    Notably, violence had erupted at two polling booths under Duar Amla council constituency in West Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday during the KAAC election, said police.

    According to the police, an irate mob destroyed ballot boxes of two polling booths and also had set a large number of ballot papers. Security personnel were forced to fire in air to control the situation. Heavy security personnel were deployed in the area following the incident.

    Re-polling at two polling booths was held on June 10.

    The Karbi Anglong district is one of the 34 administrative districts of Assam, Diphu is its administrative headquarter and is administered by Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council according to the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

    (With online desk inputs)

  • By-polls in nine Northeast seats a litmus test for Congress

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The October 30 by-elections to nine seats in the Northeast will be a litmus test for the Congress, which has done badly in recent Assembly elections across the region that was once its stronghold.

    Of the nine constituencies, five are in Assam, three in Meghalaya and one in Mizoram. The Congress is the only party to have fielded candidates in all seats.

    In Assam, three turncoats are the BJP candidates, contesting from Mariani, Thowra and Bhabanipur seats.

    Sitting MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi (Mariani) and Sushanta Borgohain (Thowra) dealt a body blow to the Congress by defecting to the BJP within months of winning the polls. Later, the Bhabanipur MLA Phanidhar Talukdar quit the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to wear saffron.

    Their defections and the deaths of the sitting MLAs of Gossaigaon and Tamulpur in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) necessitated the by-elections. BJP ally United People’s Party Liberal is contesting from the two seats in BTR and likely to win both.

    The family of Kurmi, an Adivasi (Tea Tribe), has held the Mariani seat for 30 years with a gap of two years. The tea garden voters decide the fate of the Mariani candidates and Kurmi’s defection has annoyed a section of them.

    The BJP is also likely to face a challenge from Congress and Raijor Dal in Thowra and from the AIUDF in Bhabanipur where the Muslims have a sizeable number of voters.

    The Congress is confident that people will reject Kurmi as well as Borgohain for their betrayal.

    In Meghalaya, the Congress is hoping to retain Mawryngkneng and Rajabala seats. The third seat going to polls is Mawphlang. The deaths of the sitting MLAs necessitated the elections.

    Meghalaya is the only state in the Northeast where the position of the Congress is relatively better.

    In Mizoram, the Congress will try to regain the Tuirial seat. The party had lost the seat to the Zoram People’s Movement in the 2018 elections. It fell vacant after the sitting MLA’s death.

    Altogether 31 candidates are contesting the five seats in Assam. Meghalaya and Mizoram have 13 and four candidates respectively. 

  • Sonowal to be a guide, grateful to PM for support: Himanta Biswa Sarma after being chosen Assam CM-elect

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal “will continue to remain a ‘marg-darshak’ (guide)”.

    Sarma, after being elected unanimously as the leader of the NDA legislature party, said in his address that he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda, Sonowal, and all other party leaders for giving him an opportunity to serve the people of the state, and pledged to carry out his duties with “dedication and honesty”.

    Effusive in his praise for Sonowal, the saffron party leader, who is also the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, described his tenure as one “unblemished without a single charge of corruption or any other allegation”.

    “He practised politics of values. Sonowal is a leader with a foresight, someone who had the vision of uniting the people of ‘Barak-Brahmaputra-plains-hills’ while ensuring no section of the society was left behind.

    He was our leader and will remain so as our ‘marg-darshak’.

    “He had immense faith in me and gave me important portfolios. He inspired me to serve the people well. I promise to follow the path that he has shown us in the last five years,” the CM-designate said.

    ALSO READ | Himanta Biswa Sarma: Chief architect of BJP’s success in Northeast

    Sarma also expressed his gratitude to the prime minister for “prioritising North East since 2014, ushering in development in the region, facilitating connectivity through rail, road, air, information and technology”.

    The CM-elect thanked Modi for visiting the state’s “nooks and corners” during elections to hold campaigns not just for the BJP candidates but also nominees of its alliance partners — the AGP and the UPPL.

    “We are particularly grateful to the PM for giving due respect and recognition to our ‘gamosa’. Even when he was administered the vaccine, he had it around his neck.

    This love of his for the ‘gamosa’ fills every Assamese heart, including mine, with immense pride,” he stated.

    The NEDA convenor further said that Shah and Nadda have also “given us the strength and determination to march towards our goal, and for this we shall be indebted to them”.

    “It was due to the Union home minister’s meticulous planning that peace returned to the Bodo and the Karbi areas, bringing along with it new hopes for the tribal communities,” he underlined.

    “History has been created by the BJP and its allies as it is the first non-Congress government to be retain power for the second successive term in the state,” Sarma said, congratulating the newly elected MLAs of all three parties of the NDA.

    He urged the legislators to ensure that the poorest of the poor are attended to.

    “We have to dedicate ourselves to the service of the state, to help realise the dream of making Assam one of the top five states in the country,” he added.

    Sarma was elected to the assembly from the Jalukbari assembly constituency for the fifth consecutive term.

  • Assam’s chief issue: Himanta Biswa Sarma meets BJP leaders J P Nadda, Amit Shah in Delhi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid speculation over the next chief minister of Assam, senior BJP leader from the state Himanta Biswa Sarma met party president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Saturday.

    Both Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Sarma were on Friday called to New Delhi by the BJP central leadership, apparently to discuss the leadership issue of the next government.

    Though both leaders from Assam reached Delhi on Saturday morning it was Sarma who reached Nadda’s residence to meet him and BJP general secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh, sources said.

    They were later joined by Amit Shah.

    It is expected that Sonawal would also reach Nadda’s residence to meet the BJP’s top brass, where a decision on the next chief minister of Assam could be taken.

    ALSO READ | Who will take over the reigns in Assam: CM Sonowal or Himanta?

    It is immediately not known whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present in the meeting, they added.

    Sonowal, who belongs to Assam’s indigenous Sonowal-Kachari tribals, and Sarma, the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance, both are contenders for the top post of the Assam government.

    The BJP had not announced a chief ministerial candidate before the Assembly polls in Assam.

    In the 2016 Assembly polls, the BJP had projected Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate and won, forming the first saffron party government in the northeast.

    This time, the party has been maintaining that it would decide who would be the next chief minister of Assam after the elections.

    In the results announced for the 126-member Assam assembly last Sunday, the BJP won 60 seats while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL six.

  • Social media key to UPPL’s victory in Assam election

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Apart from other reasons, social media is believed to have played a major role in the spectacular performance of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in the Assam elections.

    The campaign was led by Vivek Bansal and his team members. The team had tried to reach out to especially the young voters. The UPPL had an aggressive election campaign which was led by party chief Pramod Bodo. 

    The party, which rules the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council along with the BJP, had contested eight seats and won six to register the second best strike rate after the All India United Democratic Front in the elections.

  • Assam elections: At 80%, AIUDF had the best strike rate

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: It was not the BJP, but the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) which had the best strike rate in the Assam elections.

    The party contested 20 seats and won 16 with a strike rate of 80%. The seats were in Bengali-Muslim majority regions of Central and Lower Assam and the Barak Valley of Southern Assam where the party holds sway. In 2016, the AIUDF had contested 73 seats and won 13.

    The BJP-Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) combine had won 75 of the state’s 126 seats as against 50 by the Congress-led grand alliance of 10 Opposition parties which had the AIUDF, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), the Left and some smaller regional parties as components.

    The BJP won 60 of the 92 seats it contested with a strike rate of 65.21%. In 2016, it had won an equal number of seats contesting from 84 seats. The AGP contested 26 seats and won nine with a strike rate of 35%. In the last elections, it contested 28 seats and won 14. The UPPL contested eight and won six with a strike rate of 75%. In 2016, it contested four and drew a blank.

    The Congress contested 94 seats and won 29 with a strike rate of 31%. In 2016, it contested 122 seats and won 26. The BPF had contested 12 seats and won four with a strike rate of 33%. The Left contested four seats and won one with a strike rate of 25%. One seat had gone to an Independent candidate.

    For the AIUDF, the sterling performance has not sunk in yet.

    “If the Congress had allowed us to contest in five-six more seats, we would have won those as well,” party general secretary, Haidar Hussain Bora told The New Indian Express.

    According to him, the AIUDF had sought to contest in 26-27 seats but the Congress was not ready to give it more than 14 seats. Eventually, the deal was struck at 20. In six of them, the two parties had friendly contests with AIUDF winning two and Congress four.

    “We sacrificed in the interests of the alliance as we wanted to defeat the BJP. The Congress’s focus should have been more on Upper Assam. It was an empty field as we were not there. It should have performed better in that region,” Bora added.

    But the Congress said it suffered in Upper and Northern Assam due to the alliance with the AIUDF.

    “The alliance with the AIUDF has affected us greatly in Upper and Northern Assam,” a Congress insider said, pointing out that the grand old party had won just five of the 42 seats in the two regions.

    The grand alliance of the Opposition was formed one month ahead of the elections to oust the BJP from power. When the Congress had come up with the idea of “Mahajot”, it received immediate support from the AIUDF.

    This was for the first time that the two parties had come together to thwart the split of anti-BJP and anti-AGP votes. In the 2016 elections, their combined vote share was more than that of the winning candidates from the BJP coalition in 14 seats.

    During his lifetime, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi of the Congress had always opposed the alliance with the AIUDF fearing a possible setback in the Assamese-majority Upper and Northern Assam regions where a strong sentiment of Assamese sub-nationalism works. The AIUDF is viewed by many in Assam as a party floated to protect the interests of the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

    Vote share of major parties

    BJP 33.21% (2021), 29.5% (2016)Congress 29.67% (2021), 30.9% (2016)AGP 7.91% (2021), 8.1% (2016)AIUDF 9.29% (2021), 13% (2016)BPF 3.39% (2021), 3.9% (2016)

    Strike rate

    AIUDF: 80% (contested 20, won 16,UPPL: 75% (contested 8, won 6)BJP: 65.21% (contested 92, won 60)AGP: 35% (contested 26, won 9)BPF: 33% (contested 12, won 4)

  • Gradual decline in Assam women MLAs continues, just six emerge victorious in 2021

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: There has been a steady decline in the number of elected women representatives in the Assam Assembly in recent years.

    Altogether 74 women had contested the Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on Sunday, and only six emerged victorious.

    These 4.76% of the legislators in the 126-member House will represent 49.30% women voters. The 74 women were among the state’s 946 candidates or 7.82% of total contestants.

    The six winners included three from the BJP, two from the Congress and one from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). They were the BJP’s Ajanta Neog, Suman Haripriya and Nandita Garlosa, the Congress’s Nandita Das and Sibamoni Bora and the AGP’s Renupoma Rajkhowa. While Neog, Haripriya, Das and Rajkhowa got re-elected, Garlosa and Bora are first-timers.

    Neog, a three-time former Congress Cabinet minister, had defected to the BJP ahead of the elections.

    The state’s longest-serving woman MLA, Pramila Rani Brahma of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), was among the losers. She was a Cabinet minister in the previous Tarun Gogoi Congress government as well as the Sarbananda Sonowal government.

    The Congress had fielded the highest number of women candidates at nine, followed by SUCI (C) eight, BJP seven, Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) seven and AGP two. The All India United Democratic Front, BPF and Rashtriya Janata Dal had fielded one each. There were also 24 Independent candidates.

    In the 2016 elections, 91 women had contested and eight of them won. In the 2011 polls, 71 contested with 14 emerging winners. Thirteen women were elected in 2006.

    According to Bobbeeta Sharma, who is the chairperson of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee’s media cell, the problem is that the desired number of women representatives is still elusive in Assembly elections.

    “However, as far as the Congress party is concerned, women representation is by and large more than other parties. But it is yet to be 33%. It is observed that adequate women representation in Assembly and Parliament will happen only when there is a law for its implementation. This can happen only when the Women Reservation Bill is passed,” she said.

  • Who will take over the reigns in Assam: CM Sonowal or Himanta?

    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.

    In Dibrugarh, BJP’s local MLA, Prasanta Phukan said one, who is the most efficient, should be appointed as the CM.The BJP, however, said one must not read too much into the day’s proceedings.“He (Sarma) helped them in many ways during elections and now that they have won, they came to meet him to express their gratefulness. The MLAs also met the CM. So, there is no room for speculations,” a BJP leader said.BJP ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) said it favoured the appointment of a dynamic leader as the CM.“People have given us a chance to serve them again. We need a dynamic leader as the CM so we can fulfil people’s expectations,” UPPL president Pramod Bodo said.Since his defection to BJP from Congress six years ago, Sarma has not only contributed to the prowess of the BJP in Assam but hoisted the BJP flag across the Northeast. As the BJP retained power in Assam, he can pat himself once again.There are murmurs that the BJP might appoint Sarma as the CM by giving ministerial responsibilities to Sonowal in Delhi. But BJP sources said if the party leadership had that plan, it would have been already executed.From Sonowal to Sarma to party chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass, they all have left the matter to the wisdom of the central leadership.A master election strategist who is widely known for his political acumen, Sarma was instrumental in scripting the BJP’s victory also in some states of the Northeast in recent years.He has high ambitions and he did all that he could to retain the attention of the party’s central leadership. In the lead-upto the polls, he took out rallies and roadshows across Assam amidst thousands of his supporters.His filing of nomination was a gala affair. Several thousand supporters accompanied him as he went to file the paper. Manipur CM N Biren Singh and BJP’s two central leaders were also present. Sonowal’s filing of nomination, in contrast, was a low-key affair.However, one reason why the BJP might continue with Sonowal is its defeat in West Bengal. The party is expected to give credit to Modi for the Assam victory. Sarma’s appointment might take away Modi’s role in the victory. He had led the party’s Assam election campaign.

  • Assam election results: Anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi first in state to win polls from jail

    By PTI
    SIBSAGAR: Jailed anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi became the first Assamese to win an election without hitting the campaign trail, as he clinched the Sibsagar constituency, defeating his nearest rival Surabhi Rajkonwari of the BJP by a decisive 11,875 votes.

    The founder of the newly floated Raijor Dal — arrested in December 2019 over sedition charges — bagged 57,219 votes as an Independent, garnering support from 46.06 per cent of the electorate.

    The Congress, which had initially backed the Raijor Dal chief, ended up giving ticket to Subhramitra Gogoi, who came third in the contest.

    The RTI activist, in an attempt to reach out to the people of the state, wrote several open letters from jail, highlighting problems that need to be addressed.

    CLICK HERE TO READ ASSAM ELECTION COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

    What might have struck a chord with the electorate was his 85-year-old mother’s efforts to campaign for his imprisoned son along the narrow lanes of Sibsagar, despite the frailties of old age.

    Moved by Priyada Gogoi’s determination, renowned social activists Medha Patkar and Sandeep Pandey flew down to the Upper Assam town and joined the octogenarian in her campaigns.

    Hundreds of youth volunteers of the Raijor Dal also took to door-to-door electioneering to woo voters ahead of the three-phase polls.

    Notwithstanding the entire election machinery of the BJP, which put all its weight behind Rajkonwar as top leaders such as Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani addressed the people of the constituency, Gogoi, a greenhorn, emerged victorious with absolutely no cash in hand and Rs 60,497 in deposits.

    A graduate from Cotton College in Guwahati, the 46- year-old Raijor Dal chief is not new to electoral politics.

    He had served as general secretary of the Cotton College Students’ Union in 1995-96.

    Over the years, the anti-corruption activist, who also helms the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), had been at the forefront of numerous agitations.

    He had fought for land rights of indigenous people, and led a statewide movement against construction of big dams in the ecologically sensitive regions.

    Dozens of cases have been slapped on him by successive state governments.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him in December 2019 for his alleged involvement in the violent anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests across the state.

    Political analyst Atiqur Rahman Barbhuiya said Gogoi’s victory will go down in history as the only political prisoner to have set such a precedent after former union minister George Fernandes, who won the 1977 Lok Sabha election by over three lakh votes from a jail in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

    “Gogoi won because he identified with the indigenous sentiments. People considered him as his spokesperson,” Rahman Barbhuiya told PTI.

    Prominent members of the Raijor Dal said they would move the court, seeking arrangements for Gogois participation in the oath-taking ceremony.

  • Populism, Hindutva, ethnic outreach: BJP’s three-pronged strategy pays rich dividends in Assam

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: A three-pronged strategy by the BJP helped it sweep the Assam polls and retain power.

    The BJP managed to counter the Congress-led grand alliance of the Opposition through developmentalism coupled with populist schemes; core Hindutva with continuous focus on the threat to the land, language and culture of the indigenous populace from the illegal immigrants; and by aligning with ethnic political outfits to marginalize the discontent of mainstream Assamese.

    By indulging in competitive populism, the BJP-led government had targeted all communities, particularly tea workers, with various welfare schemes.

    The government had also come up with schemes for the weaker sex, including unmarried women and widows. Unmarried women from poor families get one-time financial assistance of Rs 40,000 during their wedding. Widows belonging to BPL category get a lump sum pension of Rs 300 per month.

    HIGHLIGHTS: How the Assam Assembly election results unfolded

    Under the Arunodoi Scheme launched last year, financial assistance of Rs 830 per month is given to around 17 lakh families where women, being the primary caretakers of the family, are the beneficiaries. In its election manifesto, the BJP had promised to increase the assistance to Rs 3,000 and the number of beneficiaries to 30 lakh. The BJP had also made admission in government institutions free from the primary level to post-graduation.

    Another measure of the party’s competitive populism was gifting scooties to girl students who excel in their Class 12 board exams. This election, the party had announced a gift of bullet bikes to boys but did not mention the eligibility criteria.

    “Without looking at the overall fundamentals of the economy, the BJP had created huge beneficiary schemes for all segments of the society. During electioneering, it also constantly talked about the threat to Assamese civilisation from illegal immigrants after the Congress had aligned with the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF),” political scientist Akhil Ranjan Dutta of Gauhati University said.

    The AIUDF, seen by many in Assam as the protector of illegal immigrants, is a component of the 10-party and Congress-led grand alliance of the Opposition.

    ALSO READ: Himanta Biswa Sarma: Man of the Match of the Assam elections

    Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was at the forefront of the campaign against the AIUDF. He tried to scare people into believing that voting for the Congress would mean inviting AIUDF chief and MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal to Dispur, the state’s seat of power.

    In the lead-up to the polls, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had made an appeal to the voters to defeat the Mughals, alluding to the AIUDF. So, the campaign had an impact on the Assamese people, particularly in Upper Assam where a strong sentiment of Assamese sub-nationalism works.

    The Assamese are inherently linked to “namghars” which are Vaishnavite prayer centres. Almost every village has a namghar. As part of its core Hindutva, the BJP-led government had offered Rs 2.5 lakh each to 8,000 namghars across the state for a makeover and evicted alleged illegal immigrants from the Kaziranga National Park and some “satras” that are institutional centers associated with Vaishnavism.

    The BJP could reach every ethnic community both in the hills and the plains. The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) was a challenge but the BJP found a competent ally in the United People’s Party Liberal.

    The saffron party retained ethnic political outfits such as Rabha Joutha Mancha and Tiwa Oikko Mancha. The Gana Shakti, floated a few years ago by tribal Mishing leaders, got handicapped after the BJP had managed to bring its top two leaders to its fold.

    Six communities, such as Tai-Ahom, Moran, Motok, Chutia, Tea Tribe and Koch-Rajbangshi, have for long been demanding Scheduled Tribe status. The BJP had managed to quell the movement to some extent with its decision to create territorial councils for the Koch-Rajbongshi, Moran and Motok communities. The tea workers were kept in good humour with cash bonanza and a number of welfares schemes.

    Over the past five years, the BJP focused on infrastructure development. After capturing power, it first finished the unfinished projects of the previous Congress government. Thereafter, it started building roads, including highways, statewide. It is also building three bridges over the Brahmaputra.

    Dutta observes that parties retaining power has become a post-economic liberalization phenomenon.

    “If you look at post-economic liberalization from 2002, any government coming to power in any state is having at least two terms in power. It is due to competitive populism. It happened to the Tarun Gogoi government, Nitish Kumar government, Naveen Patnaik government, Narendra Modi government, AIADMK government,” Dutta said.