Youth Cong's good show in assembly elections

It was almost a clean sweep for Rahul Gandhi's Youth Congress in Assam in the just-concluded assembly elections with five out of its six candidates winning with a comfortable margin. Aurangzeb Naqshbandi reports.

It was almost a clean sweep for Rahul Gandhi's Youth Congress in Assam in the just-concluded assembly elections with five out of its six candidates winning with a comfortable margin.

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The winners included state Youth Congress president Pijus Hazarika who defeated sitting All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator Guneswar Das from Raha and his predecessor Rekibuddin Ahmed who defeated former Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) minister Kamala Kalita from Chaygaon.

The performance was also better in West Bengal where four out of the seven Youth Congress and National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party, candidates emerged victorious.

The Youth Congress also managed to wrest two seats - Katulpur and Para - from the Left Front held continuously for about 34 years since 1977. Its candidates fought a tough battle in Kerala and won six seats.

Most of the seats given to the Youth Congress were traditional bastions of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Four of its candidates contested against veteran LDF ministers.

On its part, the parent party - Congress - disagreed with contentions that Gandhi's team failed to perform in the assembly polls.

"Any election needs to be analysed in wider perspective. It is not correct to give any such hasty analysis of elections," party spokesman Manish Tewari said.