While it would seem that the spotlight during this season of Assembly elections has been on West Bengal, another critical state that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP is battling to secure is Assam. The Assam Assembly elections, which are slated to take place between March 27 and April 6, are likely to be a three-cornered fight with the BJP-led front, the Congress-led grand alliance and the regional front. Last week, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the campaign of the party in Guwahati, stating that the focus of the party will continue to be the all-around development of the state.
The BJP’s rise to power in the state was a huge victory for the party as it was able to secure a state in which it traditionally did not hold any power. In the 2016 assembly election, the BJP managed to win 60 of the 126 seats on its own, and 86 in partnership with its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). However, in 2021, the landscape of the state has changed dramatically. Not only have alliances amongst parties changed, but the opposition has been using the BJP’s delay in implementing the CAA and NRC, which has been its critical electoral plank in the state for years as a tool against them.
Shiv Sehgal Director, Polstrat, a political consultancy
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