GUWAHATI: With Bihar election over, senior BJP leaders have started flocking Congress-ruled Assam where assembly polls are due early next year.
Senior BJP leaders including national general secretary Ram Madhab and national organization secretary Ram Lal among others have been sent to Assam by BJP president Amit Shah to confabulate with senior state BJP leaders, party MPs, MLAs and party in-charge of Assam affairs Mahendra Singh to take stock of the party’s prospects for Assam polls and hammer out a
strategy to fight the polls.
The BJP national leaders held close-door meeting with state party leaders at Amingaon near here to iron out party’s strategy for the next Assembly polls in Assam where the ruling Congress is facing a strong anti-incumbency after remaining in power at a stretch since 2001.
Senior BJP MP from Assam, Ramen Deka informed that the BJP has assigned 126 observers for each of the 126 legislative Assembly constituencies (LACs) in the state to take stock of the ground political situation and party’s prospects in each of those. The 126 observers will report to the party’s national leadership and submit their recommendations and suggestion about steps required to be taken by the party to brighten the prospects of the party in next Assembly polls.
Deka further informed that the BJP’s visiting national leaders were taking stock of various alliance that were likely to crop up in the state before Assembly polls and decide the strategy of the party accordingly.
The BJP has, meanwhile, geared up its party workers and youth organisations to mobilise people especially in those LACs which have been represented by senior Congress ministers. For instance, the party is planning to hold a massive rally on November 14 in Samaguri LAC which is represented by Rakibul Hussain, the most influential minister in Tarun Gogoi’s cabinet as on date. Another rally is being organized at Amguri LAC which is represented by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Anjan Dutta.
Nine Congress MLAs formally join BJP
Nine Congress MLAs in Assam on Friday joined the BJP giving a shot in the arm of the saffron party that is striving hard to win power in the state after the next Assembly polls due early next year.
Congress MLAs Pijush Hazarika, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Pallab Lochan Das, Pradan Barua, Rajen Borthakur, Bolin Chetia, Binanda Saikia, Kripanath Mallah and Abu Taher Bepari, on Friday joined the BJP in presence of BJP national general secretary Ram Madhab and other senior party leaders in Assam.
These Congress MLAs have just followed the footsteps of former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who joined the BJP in September this year.
Pijush Hazarika said they had been induced by development agenda of Modi government to join the BJP. With this development Congress’ strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly has been reduced to 69 which is still a comfortable position for the ruling party.
