Election fever: How BJP and Congress are wooing the voters in Assam

For the Assam Assembly elections 2021, the contest is between two alliances, the ruling BJP has teamed up with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) while the Congress has formed a ‘Grand Alliance’ with the AIUDF, BPF, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM), RJD and the Jimochayan (Deori) Peoples Party (JPP).

The voting for the 126-member Assam assembly will be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. The votes will be counted on May 2.

The state witnessed some high-decibel campaign with top leaders of the BJP and the Congress holding rallies and roadshows in the state. The BJP’s attack on the Congress mainly focused over it aligning with Badruddin Ajmal-led AIDUF, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying if their coalition came to power infiltration in the State will increase. “Congress party should be ashamed of allying with Ajmal,” Shah said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi countered this by saying that the attack on Ajmal was an attack on “Assam, its brotherhood and peace.

Here is a look at some talked-about quotes and comments by political leaders during the campaign for Assam assembly elections:

*PM Narendra Modi took a direct dig at the ‘Mahajut’, Congress-led grand alliance in the state, saying that the grand alliance is nothing but a big lie.

“This Mahajooth doesn’t have neta (leaders) or neeti (principles), neither does it have sanskaar (culture) or vichar (ideas),” PM Modi said while addressing a rally at Bihpuria in Lakhimpur district.

*While interacting with college students in Dibrugarh, Rahul Gandhi assured that Congress will ensure that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not implemented in Assam if the party comes to power.  

“You think democracy is declining. Youth is unemployed, farmers are protesting, CAA is there. We can’t ask the people of Assam to forget their culture, language if they come to Delhi. One force, born in Nagpur, trying to control the whole country,” he said.

*PM Narendra Modi said the toolkit row sought to defame Assam tea, famous across the world, and Yoga, the legacy of India’s ancient saints, as part of a ‘conspiracy’.

“A conspiracy was hatched against Assam tea. You must have heard about a toolkit. It sought to destroy the tea gardens of Assam. No Indian will allow that,” he said.

*Rahul Gandhi on attacks on AIDUF leader Badruddin Ajmal:

“It is not an attack on Ajmal, but on Assam. It is an attack on Assam’s brotherhood and peace,” Gandhi said.

*Home Minister Amit Shah on new regional parties in Assam

“Those who led the Assam Agitation have formed political parties with different names to cut the votes of the BJP. Their goal is to help the Congress, which fired on and killed hundreds of youth during that agitation, win the elections,” Shah said.

*Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Assam politics

“Assam’s truth is that it is plagued by several syndicates which are impacting its governance. And the politics here is divided among two characters like that of Mahabharata — Dhritarashtra and Shakuni Mama,” she said.