BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: Tarun Gogoi has led the Congress to a hat-trick victory in Assam with the electorate giving a clear verdict on him. The Congress is all set to win a comfortable majority with the party already winning 45 seats and leading in another 20.
The majority mark in the 126-member Assam assembly is 64. Despite winning a majority, the Congress is set to form the next government with its present ally, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), led by Hagrama Mohilary, a former militant.
Gogoi has proved he is the Congress’s best mascot in Assam by leading the party to victory from panchayat to parliament in all the elections, barring one, since 2001. He has proved once again that the people of Assam have no alternative to him at this juncture when the state is seriously trying to buy peace with rebel outfit Ulfa.
The opposition, regional party AGP, which went all out against Gogoi, accusing his government of being neck-deep in corruption, has shown a dismal performance and may reduce its tally of 24 seats in the 2006 assembly election. The AGP’s expected tally is 23, but the party has won just five and is leading in 16 seats.
Despite roping a battery of central leaders, including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the BJP failed to reach its 2006 tally of 10 seats and may have to content with about five seats only.
The biggest surprise in this election was the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), led by perfume baron Badaruddin Ajmal. The party is all set to emerge as the third force in Assam politics after the Congress and the AGP. The AIUDF has already won eight seats and is now leading in five others. Its 2006 tally was 10 seats.
Prominent AGP leaders who lost the election include party president Chandramohan Patoway and former president Brindaban Goswami. Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who contested from two seats, has lost the Samaguri seat to Congress minister Rockybul Hussain. Mahanta is, however, leading in his traditional Barhampur constituency in Nagaon district.