Lotus blooms in the North-East

The BJP wrested Assam from Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday, and is set to form the government for the first time in the North-Eastern State with a two-third majority in the Assembly, along with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elated with the results that mirrored the BJP’s extraordinary performance in the Lok Sabha polls when it had won seven of the 14 seats in the State and cornered 36.86 per cent of the vote share. “Heartiest congratulations to Assam BJP karyakartas and leaders for the exceptional win. This win is historic by all standards. Phenomenal!” exclaimed the Prime Minister on his twitter handle.

“I spoke to Sarbananda Sonowal and congratulated him for the performance of the party and the efforts through the campaign,” he added.

As per figures by the Election Commission, the BJP was almost touching the halfway mark on its own by securing as many as 60 seats in the 126-member Assembly. From the last elections in 2011, when the BJP secured six seats and 11.47 per cent of vote share, it was a stupendous gain of over 18 per cent vote share at 29.4 per cent and 60 seats. Allies AGP and BPF won 14 and 12 seats respectively, taking the NDA’s cumulative tally to 87 seats.

Outgoing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi conceded defeat and congratulated his rival. “We accept the mandate of the people. I thank the people of Assam for giving us the opportunity to serve them. Now people want us to sit in the opposition and play the role of an effective opposition. I bow to the wishes of the people,” said Gogoi, addressing a press conference at his residence.

Celebrations were afoot at the BJP headquarters with party President Amit Shah describing the results as a “milestone” in many different ways.

“The victory in Assam means a lot. It is a border State which we have never won on our own before. The former Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam) has represented this State for nine years. Now we, along with our allies have won a two-third majority,” said Shah.

The BJP was set to appoint Minister of State for Skill Development, Youth Affairs and Sports Sarbananda Sonowal as Chief Minister designate.

The party was careful in extending the credit for the victory to newly-inducted Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congress stalwart who joined the BJP last year owing to unhappiness over Tarun Gogoi’s promotion of his son Gaurav Gogoi. Sarma was appointed head of the BJP’s campaign.

“The credit for this victory goes to Sarbananda Sonowal as well as Himanta Biswa Sarma and our workers,” said BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav.

The Congress suffered a heavy setback with its vote share shrinking from 39.39 per cent in 2011 to 31 per cent now, and the number of seats dropping from 78 to a mere 24 this time round.

Perfume king Badruddin Ajmal, who lost his own seat in Dhubri, did not lose much in terms of vote share with his party, with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) securing 13 per cent, a little more than in 2011 when it got 12.57 per cent.

However, there was a slight drop from the Lok Sabha performance when AIUDF won three seats and about 14.98 per cent vote share. The AIUDF won 13 seats, in comparison to the 18 seats won in 2011.