The BJP and its allies on Saturday secured all six Assembly seats in Assam and Meghalaya, with a stunning victory in the minority-dominated Congress bastion Samaguri in Nagaon district.
BJP’s ally, the National People’s Party (NPP), won the Gambegre seat in Meghalaya.
The Samaguri seat was won by Diplu Ranjan Sarmah of the BJP by a margin of 24,501 votes against Tanzuil Hussain, the son of Lok Sabha MP Rakibul Hussain, who has won the seat since 2001.
The BJP also retained Dholai by 9,098 votes and the Behali by 9,051 votes. BJP’s allies UPPL won in Sidli by 37,016 votes and the AGP won in Bongaigaon by 35,164 votes.
However, the Congress’s failure — in Samaguri and Behali — was seen as a setback by political observers and party insiders.
In Samaguri, the role of Muslim voters in the BJP’s win was acknowledged by both chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the winning candidate Sarmah.
Sarmah secured 81,321 votes to Hussain’s 56,820 in the constituency which has over one lakh-plus minority voters, of whom over 80,000 exercised their franchise.
BJP elated
Sarmah said he had campaigned in every booth and had not differentiated between Muslims and other voters as they are all “Indian citizens”. He also said that he would seek the support of the Congress in developing Samaguri as he believes in the “sabka saath sabka vikash sabka prayash” mantra of his party.
Chief minister Sarma in a post on X thanked the people of Assam for the “NDA’s 5/5 victory” reflecting the “resounding testament to Assam’s unwavering support” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision of good governance and development”.
“A special mention for Samaguri, a constituency with a 65% minority population, held by Congress for 25 years, now won by the BJP. This historic victory reaffirms people’s trust in our welfare agenda and their firm rejection of the Opposition’s divisive politics, the chief minister said.
He added: “My heartfelt thanks to the people for their steadfast support. We remain committed to building a Viksit Assam for all. A big shoutout to our dedicated karyakartas who took our message of development to every booth!”
Congress worry
Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah accepted defeat and admitted that the results were a setback but it should not dishearten party workers as they have been able to boost their vote share in Dholai and Behali, among others.
Borah also said they would hold a meeting of the political affairs committee and an extended executive in the first week of December to discuss the results and the road ahead. He also asserted the need for a united fight by the Opposition.
However, Congress insiders said the adverse result was “good for the party”, citing how the All India Congress Committee and senior state leaders “handled the candidate selections” and the campaign.
Meghalaya verdict
In Meghalaya, the National People’s Party (NPP), an NDA partner, won the Gambegre seat, which has been a Congress bastion.
Debutant Mehtab Chandee A. Sangma, wife of chief minister and NPP chief Conrad K. Sangma, won the seat by 4,594 votes. Sadhiarani M. Sangma of the Trinamool finished second and Jingjang M. Marak of the Congress was pushed to the third spot.
The Congress had won the seat in the 2023 Assembly polls while the Trinamool had finished second. Congress’s Saleng A. Sangma had resigned from the seat after winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the Tura constituency, considered a bastion of the P.A. Sangma family. In that way, it was sweet revenge for chief minister Sangma, an NPP leader said.
With this win, the tally of the NPP in the 60-member Assembly has gone up to 32, excluding the support of its allies.
Thanking the people of Gambegre, Chandee said people had voted for change and development, asserting that the NPP-led government would continue to give its best for the people of the state.
