The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was poised to form government in Assam for a third consecutive term on Monday as early trends from the Election Commission showed it leading in 99 of the 126 Assembly constituencies, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 64.
According to trends released for all constituencies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ahead in 80 seats on its own, while its alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) were leading in nine and 10 seats, respectively. The Congress was ahead in 23 constituencies, while its ally Raijor Dal was leading in two seats. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) was ahead in two seats.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was leading in Jalukbari, consolidating his position in the state’s political landscape. Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was trailing his BJP rival Hitendranath Goswami in Jorhat, according to the trends.
In other key contests, Assam Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary of the BJP was ahead of former BTC chief Pramod Boro of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in Tamulpur.
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AJP leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who was earlier leading, slipped behind BJP’s Chakradhar Gogoi in Khowang. However, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, after fluctuating between leads and trails, was again ahead of BJP candidate Kushal Dowari.
AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal was leading in Binnakandi, one of the party’s key constituencies.
Several high-profile candidates were trailing, including Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora of Congress, along with former Union minister Rajen Gohain, who had switched to the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), and former BJP MP Rajdeep Roy. Minister Nandita Garlosa, who joined Congress after being denied a ticket, was also trailing.
Among those leading were AGP president Atul Bora in Bokakhat and working president Keshab Mahanta in Kaliabor, both serving ministers in the Sarma cabinet.
Former Congress leaders Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Borah, who had joined the BJP ahead of the polls, were ahead in Dispur and Bihpuria respectively.
Several ministers in the outgoing cabinet, including Ranoj Pegu, Pijush Hazarika, Ashok Singhal, Prashanta Phukan, Bimal Borah and Chandramohan Patowary, were also leading in their constituencies.
In a notable contest, Sorbhog’s sitting MLA Manoranjan Talukdar was trailing BJP leader Ranjeet Kumar Dass in the reorganised Bhowanipur-Sorbhog seat following delimitation.
The BPF, which has rejoined the NDA, was leading in three constituencies, including Kokrajhar, where Sewli Mohilary, wife of BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary, was ahead.
Counting began at 8 am with postal ballots taken up first and was being conducted across 40 centres in 35 districts. While most districts had a single counting centre, Nagaon had three, and Kokrajhar, Tinsukia and Jorhat had two each.
Polling for all 126 constituencies was held in a single phase on April 9, recording a voter turnout of 85.96 per cent, with over 2.5 crore voters deciding the fate of 722 candidates.
In the outgoing Assembly, the BJP held 64 seats, AGP nine, UPPL seven, and BPF three.
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