Bhupen Borah's resignation and swift switch to the BJP has dealt the Congress a major setback in Assam just weeks before the Assembly elections.
In a significant development ahead of the assembly elections, former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah is set to join the BJP, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Congress had approached the EC alleging that Sarma had threatened to send Mohilary to jail by misusing the National Investigation Agency.
The ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is surging ahead of the Grand Alliance spearheaded by the Congress in Assam.
'The Congress is not listening to its young leaders. That is why the situation of the party is worsening in all states'
While EC Secretary General Umesh Sinha would be visiting Tamil Nadu next week, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain would be in West Bengal in the coming days, sources said.
He was on Friday initially barred from campaigning related activities till April 4 for allegedly making threatening remarks against Bodoland People's Front chief Hagrama Mohilary.
'One reason given for the failure of the Congress in Assam was due to the alliance with the AIUDF.'
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
As the news of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's demise broke, leaders across the political spectrum paid tribute to the Assam leader.
With dissidence plaguing the Congress in Assam, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Saturday scotched speculations of replacing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and warned that indiscipline in the party would be dealt with strictly.
The Congress has gained the maximum number of 15 seats from the Asom Gana Parishad followed by seven seats from the Bharatiya Janata Party, four from All India United Democratic Front, five from Independents and one from the Communist Party of India.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Monday stated that the ruling Congress in Assam was facing 'double anti-incumbency' this election and the poll results were bound to reflect the people's desperate wish for a change of guard.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
The ruling Congress in Assam is way ahead in respect of preparedness for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls compared to its arch rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the regional Asom Gana Parishad.
Gogoi says BJP will suffer the same fate as Bihar in Assam if secular forces unite.
The Paresh Barua-led United Liberation Front of Assam has warned of bloodshed and violence if the state and central governments give shelter to any illegal immigrant in the state. The hardlining group has said that it would not hesitate in using arms to evict illegal migrants from neighbouring countries, who have settled down in Assam.
For the 2019 polls, the BJP chief deployed over 7,000 leaders to oversee the work of polling committees on the over 400 seats the BJP contested. These committees were asked to focus on 120 seats the party had lost in 2014, but believed it could win in 2019.
Twenty odd important political figures and civil society leaders from Assam's conflicts-ridden Bodo heartland have joined Bharatiya Janata Party that has started its 'Mission Bodoland' with bang announcing its intention to provide an alternative to Bodoland people who are fed up with misrule of Bodoland People's Front where has been in power in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Council over ten years on the trot.
'If Mr Modi and Mr Shah have made a poisonous, polarising campaign their brahmastra for 2019, Mamata Banerjee is showing them its limitations,' says Shekhar Gupta.
As the counting begins on Friday the public focus in Assam will be mainly on how helpful the 'Modi Wave' has been for the Bharatiya Janata Party to challenge a confident Congress in Assam. Both the parties have contested in 13 out of 14 parliamentary seats.
With the Modi government battling propriety issues over the Lalit Modi row and the furore on Vyapam scam, leaders of "like-minded" parties will meet for Congress president Sonia Gandhi's Iftar dinner on Monday where they are likely to deliberate on the strategy for Parliament session beginning July 21.
Assembly elections are due in the summer of 2016 in five places: Assam, West Bengal in the east and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in the south
The rebel members of Legislative Assembly of the ruling Congress in Assam on Saturday apparently failed to cause much discomfort for veteran Tarun Gogoi, the chief minister, in the special sitting of the legislature party. At the end Gogoi came out victorious with all the MLAs promising to try winning all the 14 Lok Sabha seats for the party in Assam in the next general election.
Mounting an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said the Opposition party "talks big" and believes in the "politics of hate."
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan held talks with Congress central leadership in New Delhi amid indications that decision on replacement of chief ministers will be made soon starting with Assam.
"We did not vote for the BPF (Bodoland People's Front) candidate in Lok Sabha polls, that's why we were attacked," alleged 75-year-old Iman Ali.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
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