Veteran BJP leader Hitendra Nath Goswami defeated Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi in Jorhat, securing his sixth term in the assembly. Goswami's grassroots campaign and extensive experience led to his victory.
The BJP has announced its initial list of 88 candidates for the Assam Assembly elections, featuring key contests and strategic reassignments, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's bid to retain his Jalukbari seat.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday claimed India's neighbours wanted to "break up" Assam by taking advantage of the unrest in the state earlier, but their "dreams were shattered" as the Narendra Modi government brought peace to the region.
The saffron party won 60 of the 126 seats, its allies Asom Gana Parishad nine and United Peoples Party (Liberal) six. Congress bagged 29 seats, its partner All India United Democratic Front 16 and Bodo Democratic Front four.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party, two senior leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad on Monday joined the party and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha pledged support to BJP candidates in West Bengal, including the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
Given the depleting mass base of the regional Asom Gana Parishad led by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, a section of senior leaders of the party are waiting in the wings to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is gaining ground in Assam.
Sonowal said that some people are trying to spread misinformation to mislead people and aggravate the situation.
The Assam cabinet had on December 13 approved a proposal to close down all Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols (schools) however, the legislation brought in the assembly during the day did not contain anything related to the Sanskrit tols and the education minister also did not mention anything about it.