Himanta eyes more than 12 seats in Assam to reach BJP’s target of 22 seats in North-East
Guwahati (IANS). Assam BJP has started preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. Party chief architect Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed party leaders to go to people’s doorsteps and tell them about the beneficiary schemes of the central and state government.
There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in the Northeast and Assam has the highest number of 14 seats. The saffron camp has set a target of winning at least 22 seats here and this can be achieved only if BJP wins 12-13 seats in Assam.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, three Congress candidates in Assam, Pradyut Bordoloi from Nagaon, Gaurav Gogoi from Kaliabor and Abdul Khaliq from Barpeta constituency, had won.
Gogoi’s Kaliabor constituency no longer exists after the delimitation process. There is now a new Kaziranga Lok Sabha seat with the changed demographics of voters. BJP believes that they can easily win the new seat and there is no chance of Gaurav Gogoi winning there.
Nagaon has been a BJP stronghold for over two decades and senior party leader and former Union minister Rajen Gohain has won the seat four times. Gohain was not given the ticket last time because he was an accused in a molestation case, however this time he is a probable candidate there. But there is a tussle going on in Nagaon between Gohain and the next generation BJP leaders and if this tussle continues till the elections, then BJP may face a lot of difficulties in winning back this seat.
Khaliq’s seat Barpeta is dominated by Muslim votes. But Badruddin Ajmal’s party AIUDF will field candidates there. If the contest becomes triangular, then BJP has a good chance in Barpeta also.
Recently Himanta Biswa Sarma held a review meeting with all the MLAs and MPs of Tinsukia district. Leaders of BJP’s two allies – Assam Gana Parishad and United People’s Party Liberal in Bodoland – were also present in the meeting.
Sarma directed the party leaders to lay emphasis on spreading awareness about the beneficiary schemes of the Central and State government and he asked the party MLAs to keep an eye on them.
Meanwhile, Panchayat elections are to be held in the state in December this year. However, the Chief Minister clearly said that local body elections are not being held this year. It will be postponed for at least six months. As soon as the Lok Sabha elections are over, the party will prepare for the Panchayat elections.
After delimitation, there was a major change of boundaries in various gram panchayats. The state government has decided to conduct Panchayat elections without party symbols.
There has been a kind of dissatisfaction at the ground level regarding the recent delimitation process. The Chief Minister stressed that party leaders should resolve the issues quickly.
In the meeting, every Lok Sabha MP gave feedback to the Chief Minister about the ground situation of their respective constituencies. At present BJP has nine MPs in the state. Sarma is eagerly hoping for an increase in the tally. He clearly told his party leaders that to ensure BJP’s victory on 12 seats, everyone should immediately start working at the grassroots level.
The women’s wing of Assam BJP has decided to launch an innovative campaign to attract newly married girls towards the party’s ideology. The women leaders of the party will visit the homes of all the newly married girls. It will start in October.
The Chief Minister of Assam, apart from performing the duty of convenor of the North Eastern Democratic Alliance (NEDA), shares good equations with all the Chief Ministers of the region. BJP is looking to win as many seats as possible in the North-East.
Sarma also attended a meeting of North-East BJP leaders, where he said the saffron camp was aiming to win maximum seats in the North-East. He knows that it is a tough task and hence Assam BJP has started its Lok Sabha campaign much before the Lok Sabha elections.
