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General Elections in Assam
In the 2019 election, Assam will see a direct fight between the Congress and the Asom Gana Parishad–Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in almost all its constituencies. This election witnessed realignments and alleged adjustments amongst the key political players. It also saw new entrants like the National People’s Party. Every constituency will respond to these varied factors. The outcome of Assam’s 14 constituencies is crucial as it will decide which way the region swings.
The three phase polls of Assam started on 11 April and the remaining polls will be held on 18 and 23 April. The outcome of its 14 constituencies will decide which way the region will swing. Assam has largely voted for Congress in the parliamentary elections and it was only in 2016 that the Grand Old Party was decimated and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. Since then BJP has succeeded in making inroads in all the other northeastern states. It has its own chief minister in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and is a part of the governments in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
The BJP did well in the Assam in the 2014 elections, the winning seven out of the 14 constituencies. The Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) were reduced to three seats each while the Kokrajhar constituency in the Bodoland Territorial Administrative Districts (BTAD) went to an independent candidate, Naba Kumar Sarania. While the party is confident of repeating its earlier performance if not improving upon it, there are some new factors which are at play in this election.
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