BJP retains power in Assam for 2nd consecutive term

Guwahati, May 3: The BJP -led NDA has secured a comfortable win and has gained power in Assam Assembly Elections for the second consecutive term. It has paved the way to form the government by winning 75 seats of the total 126 constituencies.

 

 

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), BJP won 60 seats which are about 33.2 per cent of the total share. Besides, its allies Asom Gana Parishad bagged 9 seats and UPPL 6 seats. Meanwhile, Congress managed to secure only 29 seats and its ally AIUDF got 10 seats. Bodoland People's Front bagged four. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) secured one seat.

 

 

Chief Minister and senior BJP Sarbananda Sonowal leader won the Majuli seat by a margin of over 40 thousand votes. while Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma bagged the Jalukbari seat with a margin of over one lakh votes.Sarma said a decision on the next Chief Minister will be taken by the BJP Parliamentary Board.

 

 

 

State BJP President Ranjit Kumar Dass, senior ministers Chandra Mohan Patowary, Ranjit Dutta, Parimal Suklabaidya, Naba Doley and Speaker of the Assembly Hitendra Nath Goswami won the election. For Congress, legislators Rockibul Hussain, Rekibuddin Ahmed, Rupjyoti Kurmi re-elected to the assembly. Three senior leaders of Asom Gana Parishad Atul Bora, Keshab Mahanta and Phani Bhusan Choudhury won from their seats.

 

Sonowal also expressed gratitude to party functionaries including national President JP Nadda for all the help. He said that the party will work to make Assam self-reliant in the next 5 years and fulfill the promises the party made in its Sankalp Patra. Meanwhile, state Congress President Ripun Bora resigned from the post of party President following the Congress' dismal performance in the state.

 

 

Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has risen in prominence in the BJP since he joined the party in 2015 from the Congress, is one of the contenders for the coveted post. He played a key role in the expanding BJP's footprint in Assam as also other states of the northeast. In the 2016 elections, BJP and its allies won 86 out of 126 seats ousting the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government which ruled the state for 15 years.