Guwahati, May 26: Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Tuesday claimed in the Assembly that the BJP-led alliance has made significant electoral gains among tea tribe communities and secured overwhelming support in reserved constituencies across the state. Participating in a discussion in the House, Sarma said the BJP, along with its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), has emerged victorious in almost every constituency dominated by tea garden communities.
“The tea tribe community has moved forward with us in an unprecedented manner. There is hardly any constituency with a tea community population where the BJP, AGP or BPF has not emerged victorious,” the Chief Minister said. Sarma asserted that the electoral success reflected the growing trust of tea garden workers and marginalised communities in the BJP-led government’s welfare measures and development agenda.
He further claimed that the ruling alliance has also achieved near-total dominance in Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituencies in Assam. “Almost 99 per cent of the Scheduled Caste reserved seats have been won by the BJP, BPF and AGP alliance,” Sarma told the Assembly. The Chief Minister said the support received from tea tribes, Scheduled Castes and other marginalised sections demonstrated that the government’s schemes and policies had reached people at the grassroots level.
According to Sarma, welfare initiatives relating to housing, healthcare, education, financial assistance and employment opportunities have contributed to strengthening the alliance’s support base among Economically Weaker Sections. The Chief Minister also said that the BJP-led coalition has been able to politically connect with communities that had historically remained neglected despite forming a significant portion of Assam’s population. Opposition parties, however, challenged Sarma’s claims and accused the ruling alliance of politicising welfare schemes and using identity-based narratives for electoral gains.
The Chief Minister has repeatedly highlighted its targeted welfare programmes for tea garden workers, including financial aid to tea tribe women, healthcare initiatives and educational support, as part of its broader outreach among marginalised communities in Assam. The BJP-led alliance secured 102 seats in the 126 member Assembly and the Opposition suffered a crushing defeat. The Congress could only manage to win 19 seats, the lowest tally for the ‘Grand Old Party’ in the state.
IANS
