Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said BJP’s strategy is to retain seats in the first phase.
Guwahati:
The BJP will improve on the number of seats it holds in Assam to offset the outcome in the third phase, which will be held in lower Assam, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has told NDTV. In a first, the party has admitted that it might lose seats in lower Assam, which is the stronghold of the Congress and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF, which have come together. Election will be held on the 40 seats of lower Assam on April 6.
Of the 47 seats in upper and central Assam, 35 already belong to the BJP and its allies.
“Our strategy is to retain seats in the first phase and increase tally by three to four seats as compared to 2016… We will lose seats in lower Assam; so the first phase is very important for us… The Muslims votes will polarize for the Congress-AIUDF,” Mr Sarma told NDTV.
In 2016, the division of votes between the Congress and AIUDF had resulted in victory for BJP or its allies in at least 20 seats. But the alliance between the two opposition parties have given rise to concern that their huge vote share might stack up against the BJP.
“They are threatened since I can sway 33-35 per cent votes and if that happens, then their government is sure to fall,” Mr Ajmal has told NDTV. The Congress-AIUDF alliance is also expected to impact the 39 seats going to polls in the 2nd phase on April 1 in southern Assam — the Bengali dominated Barak valley region, parts of central Assam and few seats of lower Assam as well.
Today, Mr Sarma said the opposition space that belonged to the Congress has now been captured by Badruddin Ajmal. “Show me a simple photograph of a Congress rally, where a leader is addressing a crowd of 1000 people,” he said.
The BJP has been carpet bombing the state with its star campaigners. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Amit shah visiting the state every week.