Sonowal, Himanta launch frontal attack on Cong for allying with AIUDF

Guwahati, Mar 17: The electioneering for the first phase of polling in Assam gets a momentum as big leaders and star campaigners of various parties are visiting the state and addressing the rallies, conducting the road shows, and interacting with the voters urging them to cast their votes in favor of their respective party candidates.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Cabinet Minister Himanta BIswa Sarma on Tuesday addressed poll rallies at Thowra and Biswanath Charali respectively campaigning in support of BJP candidates Kushal Dowari and Promod Borthakur.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal campaigning at Thowra assembly constituency in favor of BJP candidate Kushal Dowari launched a frontal attack on the Congress and AIUDF saying that the Congress and the AIUDF headed by Badruddin Ajmal are the two enemies of Assam and they had conspired to destroy the state.

He appealed to the voters to vote for the BJP to take Assam on the path of progress and peace at speed and defeat the Cong-AIUDF alliance.

Both Sonowal and Sarma were the architects of BJP victory in 2016 elections in Assam and they are shouldering the responsibility to repeat the victory this time also. Both the leaders lashed out at the Congress party for forging alliance with stark communalist party AIUDF and its supremo Badruddin Ajmal.

Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it was unfortunate that the 100 plus year old party like the Congress had to stoop to such a low for survival that it had to join hands with the AIUDF and its leader Badruddin Ajmal.

He urged the voters to think twice before voting for the Cong-AIUDF alliance saying that the Congress party has stooped to this level that they are now piggybacking Ajmal to grab the power anyhow.

Sarma, who also heads the NEDA, took a dig at the Congress party for which he had worked earlier. “The 100-year-old grand party has everything, I have also worked for the party for 22 years and stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Gopinath Bordoloi, Deshbhakt Tarun Ram Phukan and even Jyoti Prasad Agarwala also served the party. However, the party has come to such a state that it has to join hands with the AIUDF”, he added.

He further appealed to the public to keep Ajmal and Congress away from Dispur and vote in favor of the BJP.

Earlier, the star campaigners from BJP including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also slammed the Congress party for its alliance with AIUDF.

Amit Shah while questioning the leadership of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal said whether they will be able to stop infiltration in the state. Drawing a parallel between the alliance in Kerala and West Bengal, Shah asserted that Congress resorts to vote bank politics, which BJP refrains from doing.

He added that in the lust of getting power, the grand old party in Kerala has partnered with the Muslim League, in Bengal it's Indian Secular Front and here in Assam its Badruddin Ajmal led AIUDF.

The 126-member Assam Assembly will have three-phase polling and the first phase of polling will be held on March 27. A total of 47 assembly constituencies will be going to polls in the first phase. They include Dhekiajuli, Barchalla, Tezpur, Rangapara, Sootea, Biswanath, Behali, Gohpur, Dhing, Batadroba, Rupohihat, Samaguri, Kaliabor, Bokakhat, Sarupathar, Golaghat, Khumtai, Dergaon (SC), Jorhat, Majuli (ST), Titabar, Mariani, Teok, Amguri, Nazira, Mahmara, Sonari, Thowra, Sibsagar, Bihpuria, Naoboicha, Lakhimpur, Dhakuakhana (ST), Dhemaji (ST), Jonai (ST), Moran, Dibrugarh, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, Chabua, Tinsukia, Digboi, Margherita, Doom Dooma, and Sadiya.

Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning in Assam today. He will address the rallies of voters at Hojai, Kalaigaon and Rangiya assembly constituencies.