Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was part of the BJP election committee meeting (archive)
New Delhi:
The BJP has reached a formula to share seats with its Assam allies ahead of the three-phase Assembly elections that begin on March 27, the sources said Thursday night.
Sources said the BJP would compete in 92 of the 126 seats in the Assam Assembly, with 26 for the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and eight for the United Liberal People’s Party (UPPL).
A local party will merge with the BJP and one or two candidates from that party will compete for the BJP symbol, the sources added.
The sources also said that an initial list of 84 BJP candidates has been finalized, with more details about the seats and names of the candidates likely to be announced on Friday.
Meanwhile, sources within the AGP said that the two-time former chief minister and six-time MLA Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is also the founder of the party, might not get a ticket this time.
Mr. Mahanta is currently ill and is being treated in Delhi. However, he has clashed with current AGP leadership on the controversial citizenship law issue.
The sources said the AGP could see a split if, in fact, Mahanta is denied a fine.
In 2016, the BJP won 60 of the 84 seats it contested, a gain of 55 seats over its 2011 result.
The AGP won 14 of 24 and the UPPL failed to win any of the four in which it fought.
The Bodoland Popular Front (BPF), which left Congress to join the BJP-led alliance before the elections, won 12 of the 16 seats. However, the BPF has since returned to the fold of Congress.
“How can (the BJP) win if I’m not on their side? We will have to see the BJP come out of Assam,” said BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary, whose party is widely viewed as the ‘kingmaker’ in Assam.
News of the seat sharing agreement in Assam comes as the BJP Central Election Committee holds a marathon meeting in Delhi under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide on a list of candidates for the first two phases of the Bengal elections and Assam.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the BJP’s head of Assam, and his Deputy Minister of State, Jitendra Singh, were part of the meeting, which included Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, like the voices of the northeastern state. .
Assam will vote in three phases: March 27, April 1 and April 6, and the results will be delivered on May 2.
The BJP came to power in Assam for the first time in 2016 and is pushing hard to maintain control, with Prime Minister and Interior Minister Amit Shah among the star activists in these elections.
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