The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam registered a landslide victory in the municipal board elections held in the state. While the saffron party won 75 out of 80 municipal boards, its alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won two boards. Independent candidates captured two municipal boards and the opposition Congress managed to win just one board.
Voting for 80 municipal boards was held on March 6. Of these, candidates were elected unopposed in 57 wards, while voting was held in 920 wards across the state. A total of 2532 candidates were in the fray, including 825 from the BJP, 706 from the Congress, 243 from the AGP and 758 as independents.
BJP state president Bhabesh Kalita said, “The people of the state have shown that they no longer want the corruption of the Congress and have said goodbye to the party. On the other hand, the immense support we have got shows that voters are happy with the work done by the BJP government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma.”
Wednesday’s decision is another setback for the Congress after its defeat in the Assembly elections last year and two of its MLAs switching to the BJP. The party was successful in winning the Narayanpur Municipal Board only this time.
After the results, Congress spokesperson Apoorva Kumar Bhattacharya said, “We are not surprised by the election result and accept the voter’s decision with humility. The BJP currently has governments both at the Center and in Assam and voters have shown their support to the ruling party.”
BJP candidates won 742 wards while AGP won 65 wards. The opposition Congress won 71 wards and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made its debut by winning two wards in Lakhimpur and Tinsukia. AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Congratulations and best wishes to the winners. Honest and clean politics beginning in Assam too.”