Victory for divisive politics in Assam
The HinduThe Bharatiya Janata Party -led ruling alliance retained power for a second consecutive term in Assam, winning 75 of the 126 Assembly seats for which elections were held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. Prominent winners include Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Health, Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, State BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami, AGP president and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, former Minister Rokybul Hussain and UPPL founder Urkhao Gwra Brahma. The BJP succeeded in pushing the campaign that the Congress’ alliance with the AIUDF was “detrimental to the interests of the Assamese and other ethnic communities”. The BJP did not focus on the CAA during electioneering in the first phase of polling held in seats dominated by Assamese and other ethnic communities and harped more on the “danger of Congress-AIUDF” alliance and the possibility of “AIUDF Chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal becoming the Chief Minister with the support of the Congress”. In his first reaction to the verdict, the BJP’s star campaigner Himanta Biswa Sarma described the victory of the ruling alliance as “a mandate for protection of Assamese culture and civilisation”.