Guwahati: The BJP faces an uphill task to woo tea voters in eastern Assam’s tea belt by outsmarting the ruling Congress that has a traditional bastion among the tea workers because of the presence of INTUC-affiliated Assam Chah Mazdoor Shangh (ACMS).
Without the massive support of the voters among the tea workers who comprise a major chunk of voters in 23 of in eastern Assam LACs, the BJP can’t hope to trounce Congress. That the BJP is seized of the reality, is well reflected in the party’s decision to field one of its two tea tribe MPs , Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, in Titabor LAC considered a fiefdom of Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Titabor LAC has over 40,000 tea tribe voters out of the total 1.34 lakh voters.
The BJP’s star campaigner and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his poll campaign in eastern Assam promised better schools, hospitals, drinking water etc. for the tea workers, but the BJP faces organization handicap to carry the PM’s message to remote tea estates in the state as the party hardly has strong grass root base among tea workers yet.
“The BJP people have now started coming to our tea estates and promised many things in lieu of our votes. But Congress government have already given us many of the things promised by the BJP like better hospitals, power supply to tea workers’quarters, access to government schools for or children during the last 15 years. The incumbent Congress government has put an end to employment of child workers in tea estates. So, our people are not very keen to shift allegiance from Congress,” said Anjana Mirdha, a lady sardar (work charge) of tea workers in Methoni Tea Estate in Golaghat district.
Not only the BJP, even its ally regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has feeble organization base among tea workers even though the party had ruled the state on two occasions in the past.
The AGP president Atul Bora is contesting from Bokakhat LAC in Golaghat district. The constituency has over 36,000 tea workers voters (out of the total over 1.90 lakh voters) whose support is key for a win there. These voters have been voting for Congress all along.
