Guwahati, 4th June: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has expressed confidence that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the next government at the Centre, as he edges closer to a win in Assam’s Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency.
In contrast, Congress’ deputy leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, who is leading in the Jorhat constituency, argues that the election results reflect a new political trend in the country.
According to Election Commission data at 12:45 pm, the BJP and its allies are leading in nine of Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress is ahead in three.
“The people have shown their support for the NDA, and our victory prospects are very bright. We will definitely form the government,” Sonowal told reporters in Dibrugarh.
Sonowal leads his nearest rival, Lurinjyoti Gogoi of the Assam Jatiya Parishad, by over 1.60 lakh votes. Gogoi was fielded as the joint candidate by opposition parties in the state.
The Rajya Sabha MP has polled 415,789 votes, while his opponent has secured 255,717 votes so far.
“Counting is still on, but we can say that we are headed for a massive win here in Dibrugarh,” the BJP leader said.
Dibrugarh was represented by BJP’s Rameswar Teli in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
In Sonitpur district, BJP candidate Ranjit Dutta, leading by more than 1.6 lakh votes, also asserted that the NDA will retain power at the Centre.
“Counting is still on, but we can safely say that it will be an NDA government. As for Sonitpur seat, the Congress was our main rival, but they could not put up much of a fight,” the veteran leader added.
Gaurav Gogoi, on the other hand, highlighted the rise of the INDIA bloc as indicative of a new trend.
“Not just in Assam, even in Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh, the opposition has proved itself. This is an indication of a new trend in the country. There was no BJP wave; otherwise, they would have got 400 seats,” he stated to reporters at Sonari under Jorhat constituency.
Gogoi, who is ahead by over 80,000 votes against incumbent MP Topon Kumar Gogoi of BJP, added, “When the exit poll results came out, we said they were not dependable, and we have been proven right.”
In the Dhubri constituency, Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain, leading by over 3 lakh votes against incumbent MP Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF, said he would use the opportunity to address relevant issues for the people.
“I will speak in detail once the full results are out. But I want to say one thing: there are so many issues – toll gate rates have gone up, power tariff is high, etc. We need platforms to raise these issues, and I will do that,” said the Congress’ deputy leader in the Assembly.
Pradyut Bordoloi, another Congress candidate poised to retain the Nagaon seat with a lead of over 90,000 votes against the BJP nominee, maintained that people have rejected attempts at religious polarization by the BJP.
“These results are indicative of a positive mindset of the common people,” he added.
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