News Analysis India

Tag: Assam elections

  • Assam polls: Sushmita still with us, says Congress as trouble brews in party over candidates’ selection

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Congress on Saturday rubbished reports that All India Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev had resigned from the party.

    “It has been brought to the notice of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee that speculative news about the resignation of the president, All India Mahila Congress Ms Sushmita Dev is doing the rounds on television and web portals. We want to make it clear that Ms Sushmita Dev has not resigned from the party,” the Congress said in a statement.

    Trouble started brewing within the party over the selection of some candidates and its seat-sharing arrangement with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), particularly in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley.

    Dev was angry that she was not consulted during the process of selection of candidates. A group of Congress workers from the Valley in southern Assam vented ire in front of party leaders who had gathered at a hotel in Guwahati, ostensibly to announce the first list of candidates, which has now been delayed.

    ALSO READ | Jailed activist Akhil Gogoi to contest Assam polls from Sibsagar

    The Valley has three districts – Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi – and 15 Assembly segments.

    Congress sources said Dev was annoyed that the Congress allowed the minority-based AIUDF to contest all three seats in Hailakandi. They are currently held by the AIUDF and it refused to part with them.

    Dev, it was learnt, was also not happy that the Congress offered the Sonai and South Karimganj seats to the AIUDF by ignoring her suggestions.

    The Mahila Congress chief was not happy over the Congress’s choice of candidate in the Borkhola seat. The Congress said the differences would be ironed out soon.

    The party leads a grand alliance of Opposition. It was formed with the sole aim of ousting the BJP from power. Apart from Congress and AIUDF, the other components are Bodoland People’s Front, CPI, CPM, CPI-ML, and regional Anchalik Gana Morcha.

  • BJP drops flops in Assam, opts for turncoats

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The BJP on Friday unveiled its first list 70 candidates for the Assam ssembly elections, denying tickets to 11 incumbent legislators, largely on the grounds of not cooperating in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,  non-performance and to make space for the turncoats.The BJP’s North-east “Sherpa” and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is learnt to have bagged tickets for a good number of his followers in the first list.

    The BJP also unveiled seat adjustments with allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which will contest 26 and eight seats, respectively. The BJP will contest in 92 of the 126 seats in Assam. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Sarma, and BJP state chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass will contest from Majuli, Jalukbari and Patacharkuchi,  respectively. BJP national general secretary Arun Singh explained that the party has a tradition of changing faces in elections.

    However, sources said “a few of the sitting MLAs were punished for not working for BJP’s Lok Sabha candidates in the 2019 elections, which included the likes of Silchar Parliamentary constituency”. The BJP dropped Hills Area Development Minister Sum Ronghang, Rituparna Barua from Lahowal, Amar Chand Jain from Katigorah, Ashok Sarma from Nalbari, Joyram Engleng from Howraghat, Mansing Rongpi from Baithalangsu, BB Hagzer from Haflong, Dilip Paul from Silchar, Kishore Nath from Borkhola, Debananda Hazarika from Bihpuria and Nabanita Handique from Sonari constituency. 

    Turncoats from the ranks of the Congress, who bagged the BJP symbol included former legislators Bidya Sing Engleng (former chief of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council), Jayanta Malla Barua, Ajanta Neog and Gautam Roy, known as “King of Barak Valley”. Dorsingh Ronghang, of Left pedigree, was also fielded in the elections. Dilip Paul, former Assembly deputy Speaker, and businessman Dwipayan Chakraborty also got the BJP nod to contest the polls. 

    Sonowal exuded confidence of victory. “We’ve ensured peace and development, and people will bless us with another mandate”. To his earlier claims of not contesting elections, Sarma said it was the decision of the BJP leadership that he should be in the electoral ring. Along with Dass, this troika in the elections is giving rise to speculations of a post-poll re-think in the party for the post of chief minister.

    BJP will field candidates in 70 of the 126 Assembly seats in Assam. Its allies Asom Gana Parishad and United People’s Party Liberal will contest in 26 and 8 seats, respectively
    Trinamool Congress has named eight personalities from the world of movies and TV serials as candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal. Popular film director Raj Chakraborty heads the list
    TMC MLA says no to contestKolkata: Trinamool Congress MLA Samir Chakraborty has said he would not contest the West Bengal Assembly elections. “I have informed Mamata Banerjee that I don’t want to contest elections. I will  campaign for the party,” Chakraborty said in a Facebook post. He is an MLA  from Taldangra constituency in Bankura district and a familiar face in vernacular television news channel talk shows.

    Cricketer Riyan among poll ‘icons’Guwahati: Four prominent personalities, including cricketer and first-time voter Riyan Parag, were on Friday chosen as ‘icons’ to encourage people to exercise their franchise during the Assam assembly polls. Besides Parag, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, actor Kopil Bora, singer Anindita Paul and para-cyclist Rakesh Banik were selected as ‘icons’ to motivate voters, officials said. 

  • Assam elections: Asom Gana Parishad faction being revived, thanks to CAA

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: An erstwhile faction of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is being revived in Assam by some former AGP leaders who stand opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

    The AGP (Progressive) or AGP-P, which got assimilated into the parent party along with some other splinter factions of the party in 2008, is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections.

    The AGP-P was the brainchild of two-time former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. He had floated it in September 2005 in protest against his expulsion by the party.

    Despite being the AGP’s founder-president, he has remained cornered in the AGP for the past few years. Speculations are rife the AGP will not field him this election. He has been representing the Barhampur seat since 1985. He is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

    “At the request of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he (Mahanta) had helped the BJP make an entry into Assam but it betrayed him. The BJP clipped his wings after rising to power as he stood firm against the CAA,” AGP-P general secretary Pranab Goswami told this newspaper.

    Goswami and several other former AGP leaders had earlier formed the Asom Sangrami Mancha and kept voicing protests against the CAA.

    “Two days ago, we took a decision that we should contest the elections. We had written to all parties, opposed to the CAA, to be united and contest the elections together,” he said.

    He said they held a discussion with the Congress on Thursday and if everything goes well, they might join the Congress-led grand alliance.

    “We are getting a good response. People want us to contest from a good number of seats but we are focused on 15 seats,” Goswami said.

    “He (Mahanta) is still with the AGP. We heard he is returning to Assam from Delhi today (Friday). He will decide his future course of action,” the AGP-P leader added.

  • Assam Assembly polls: BJP, allies finalise sharing of 86 out of 126 seats

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP and its two alliance partners in Assam — the AGP and UPPL — have finalised their seat-sharing arrangements in 86 Assembly segments where polling will be held mostly in the first and second phase, BJP state unit chief Ranjit Dass said on Thursday night.

    Assam has 126 assembly constituencies where elections will be held in three phases, on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

    “The BJP and its allies have finalised the seat-sharing arrangements. I am not disclosing now the number of seats each party will contest as our alliance partners have to sort out some of their internal issues,” Dass told reporters here after meetings with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), United People’s Party Liberal as well as the BJP top brass.

    The BJP state unit chief said his party will announce its own candidates for the first two phases soon.

    However, the party has not finalised candidates in 12 seats for the time being and has kept them pending, he said.

    Asked whether Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will again be projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the coming assembly polls, the BJP state unit president said the party does not make such an announcement where it has its own government.

    “We project a chief ministerial candidate where we don’t have our own government. Where we have our own government, we don’t make such an announcement,” he said.

    Before the 2016 assembly elections, when Congress was in power, Sonowal was projected as the chief ministerial candidate by the BJP.

    The BJP Central Election Committee, comprising top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also met on Thursday to approve the list of party candidates for Assam.

    In the first of the three phases, 47 constituencies will go for polls.

    In the second phase, polling will be held in 39 constituencies and in the third phase, 40 constituencies.

    The last date for filing of nomination for the first phase is March 9, for the second phase it is March 12 and for the third phase, the last date of submitting nomination papers is March 19.

    In the 2016 Assembly polls, the BJP won 60 seats and the AGP 14.

    The UPPL is a new partner of the BJP and does not have any MLA now.

    The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which was part of the BJP-led alliance, had won 12 seats in 2016.

    It is no longer an alliance partner of the BJP and recently joined the opposition Congress-led ‘Mahajoot’.

  • BJP, allies agree on Assam seat-sharing after meet with Shah, Nadda; announcement soon

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP and its two Assam allies — the AGP and the UPPL — on Wednesday “almost finalised” their seat-sharing pact for the Assam assembly polls and a formal announcement will be made in a day or two, sources said.

    The “agreement on 99 per cent” of the seats has been reached at a high-level meeting attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at Shah’s residence, the sources said.

    BJP’s state unit chief Ranjit Dass, AGP President and state minister Atul Bora, UPPL chief Pramod Boro, BJP leader and state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also attended the meeting.

    A formal announcement on the number of seats each party will contest will be made in a day or two, the sources said.

    While the AGP, which won 14 constituencies in the 2016 assembly elections, may get around 25 seats to contest, the UPPL, which is a new partner of the BJP and does not have any MLA now, is expected to get around 12 seats to contest, the sources said.

    The BJP, which had won 60 seats in 2016, will contest the rest of the constituencies.

    The BPF, which was part of the BJP-led alliance, had won 12 seats in 2016.

    The BPF is no longer an alliance partner of the BJP and the regional party had recently joined the opposition Congress-led ‘Mahajoot’.

    Assam has 126 assembly constituencies.

    After the joint meeting, the BJP leaders met separately at the residence of Nadda to scrutinise the list of the party’s candidates for the polls.

    The BJP Central Election Committee, comprising top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to meet on Thursday to approve the first list of candidates.

    The three-phased Assam assembly polls will be held on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

    In the first phase, 47 constituencies will go for polls, in the second phase, polling will be held in 39 constituencies and in the third phase, polling will be held in 40 constituencies.

    The last date for filing nominations for the first phase is March 9, the last date for filing nominations for the second phase is March 12 and the last date for filing nominations for the third phase is March 19.

    While chief minister Sonowal’s Majuli and AGP president Bora’s Bokakhat constituencies will go for polling in the first phase, minister Sarma’s Jalukbari and Assam BJP chief Dass’ current seat Sarbhog will go for polling in the third phase.

    The UPPL president Boro is the chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Council, an autonomous body created under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, comprising the Bodo tribal dominated areas of Assam.

  • Priyanka Gandhi wows with ‘Jhumur’ moves, attacks Modi over ‘Assam tea under attack’ comment

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Ahead of the Assam assembly polls, both the BJP and Congress are trying hard to woo the tea workers in the state. The BJP had scored some brownie points initially when it brought the top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the tea gardens. Taking a cue from the saffron party, the Congress, too, is sending its star campaigners to the state. 

    On Monday Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra danced with a group of girls from the tea workers’ community in Lakhimpur and surprised the voters with her  moves.Later, speaking at a programme, she targeted PM Modi for his recent statement that Assam tea was under attack. “PM Modi had spoken about an attack on the Assam tea. If you wanted to protect Assam tea, why did you not generate employment? Why was there a meager hike in the daily wage of tea workers?” she asked.

    The state government had recently hiked the wages by Rs 50 — from Rs 167 to Rs 217. Ahead of last election, the BJP had promised a daily wage of Rs 351 to the community. Recently, the Congress promised that it would give a daily wage of Rs 365 if voted to power.Assam has 126 Assembly seats and in around one-third of them, tea workers determine the fate of candidates.

    Continuing her attack on the BJP, Priyanka said, “Assam is your mother. The upcoming polls are a matter of the existence of your mother. When you cast your vote, think twice if the party can ensure a brighter future of your children.” She also said that the BJP-RSS ideologies have no place in Assam’s culture. 

  • Congress, AIUDF are like Mughals; need to be defeated: Tejasvi Surya in Assam

    By PTI
    DIBRUGARH: Likening the opposition Congress and the AIUDF to the Mughals, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national president Tejasvi Surya on Sunday claimed that the two parties need to be defeated in the upcoming assembly polls to save the language, culture and heritage of Assam.

    The Congress has formed an alliance with Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and other parties against the BJP-led coalition in the state.

    “The Congress has become a follower of Badruddin Ajmal. The Congress and the AIUDF cannot save the Assamese culture. Today, the Congress or Badruddin’s party represent only the Mughals. They don’t represent us,” Surya said at a meeting of the BJYM, the youth wing of the BJP.

    “We have to resolve that to save the language, culture and heritage of Assam and to strengthen the pillar of Hindutva, we have to defeat all these Mughals. The way Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughals, all the BJYM members have to defeat and throw these Mughals out,” the BJP MP said.

    In the Battle of Saraighat in 1671, Ahom general Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughal force led by Raja Ramsingh-I.

    The BJP had termed the 2016 Assembly polls as the “last battle of Saraighat” to defeat the former chief minister Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government.

    Surya claimed that Congress does not have any policy at this moment to protect the state’s culture, language and heritage.

    According to the 2011 Census, Assam has a total Muslim population of 1.07 crore, which is 34.22 per cent of the total 3.12 crore residents in the state.

    The number of Hindus is 1.92 crore, which is 61.47 per cent of the population.

    Elections to the northeastern state will be conducted in three phases – on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

  • Will Tejashwi Yadav make any impact in Assam and Bengal?

    By Express News Service
    PATNA: Will the RJD’s plans to enter the electoral fray in West Bengal and Assam inflict any damages on its target, the BJP? This has become a million-dollar political question being asked by Bihar’s political observers and analysts.

    Some analysts say RJD’s influence could be felt in some pockets where Hindi-speaking voters are permanently settled in Assam and Bengal.

    As per rough estimation, compared to Bengal, its neighbour Assam has a larger population of Hindi-speaking voters who had migrated from Bihar.

    ALSO READ | RJD to contest Assam polls aiming Hindi-speaking voters: Tejashwi Yadav

    “Around, two per cent of voters are Hindi-speaking in Assam, who owe lineages from Bihar and a majority of them belong to Yadav community.

    In some seats, they may be able to swing the results,” said Arun Kumar Pandey, a seasoned political analyst-cum- senior journalist in Patna. He added that the RJD may try to highlight the unemployment issue during thr BJP rule during the campaign.

  • Congress looking for much-needed wins in upcoming assembly polls with the help of allies

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: After a series of reverses, the Congress is now going on an overdrive to regain power in Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with the help of its allies.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already started a high-pitched campaign in the southern states and has also toured Assam, though the party is yet to finalise seat-sharing with allies.

    In Tamil Nadu, it is still working with its major partner DMK on a seat-sharing arrangement.

    The party is optimistic about its chances in the state as also in Kerala as power switches side there every five years.

    The Congress has again joined hands with AIUDF in Assam to wrest back power from the BJP, though it does not have a stalwart like former chief minister Tarun Gogoi who passed away in November last year.

    In West Bengal, the Congress and Left parties are yet to have a formal agreement with the Indian Secular Front, a move intended to help win back some of the minority voters who are being wooed by the AIMIM as well the ruling TMC in the fight against a buoyed BJP.

    With the Congress now left in power only in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh of its own and in Maharashtra and Jharkhand along with its allies, the grand old party faces the challenge of performing well at the hustings in these polls or run the risk losing its relevance as the principal opposition party.

    The fall of its governments in Karnataka in 2019, Madhya Pradesh in 2020 and recently in Puducherry as well as the electoral reverses in Bihar and Delhi have led to growing internal discord in the Congress, especially in the absence of a full-time party chief, and is putting it at a disadvantage in the seat-sharing negotiations with allies, according to observers.

    Though the civic poll results in Punjab were encouraging, the defeat in the Gujarat civic polls has come as a dampener.

    Assembly polls in five states of Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will begin from March 27.

    The group of 23 dissenters within the Congress also went public against the party on Saturday saying it has “weakened” and there is an urgent need to strengthen it.

    Party leaders feel that for the grand old party, winning these elections is very crucial as it would give it the much-needed confidence to emerge as a stronger opposition force against the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

    It will also boost the Congress’ prospects as it enters the next phase of electoral battles in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in 2022.

  • 1.08 lakh ‘D’ voters will not be allowed to vote in Assam polls: CEO

    The figure of D-voters has decreased in comparison to the number of 1.13 lakh provided in the state assembly last year.