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1 more Cong ally moves candidates out of Assam over poaching fears
GUWAHATICongress’s Assam ally Bodoland Peoples’ Party (BPF) has flown its candidates, who contested the just-concluded assembly elections, to an undisclosed location
GUWAHATICongress’s Assam ally Bodoland Peoples’ Party (BPF) has flown its candidates, who contested the just-concluded assembly elections, to an undisclosed location.
The third and the last phase of polling in Assam was held on April 6. The results of the polls will be declared on May 2.
The move has come days after the All India United Democratic Front, another member of the Congress-led alliance, flew 18 of its 20 candidates to Jaipur in Congress-ruled Rajasthan saying it feared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will try to influence them.
While it was unclear where the BPF candidates were taken, people familiar with the matter said that at least 10 of them were taken to Bhutan on Saturday and were likely to stay there till May 2.
“I am not sure where they (the candidates) are now. But the candidates are outside Assam, that’s confirmed. I am not going anywhere,” said senior BPF leader Pramila Rani Brahma, who contested from the Kokrajhar East seat.
The BPF, which was part of the BJP-led state government, joined the Congress alliance ahead of the assembly elections and contested on 12 seats, most of which fell in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in Lower Assam.
In 2016, the BPF won 12 seats and had three cabinet ministers in the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government.
The Congress-led alliance in the state hopes to wrest power from the BJP.
While rejecting any plans to move its own candidates, the Congress said that its alliance partners were trying to “safeguard their candidates from the dirty tricks of BJP.
“We can imagine our alliance partners doing what they think best to safeguard their candidates from the dirty tricks of BJP. We have already witnessed in Goa, Manipur and other places, how BJP can manipulate voters’ verdict to gain power. Congress is not taking its candidates anywhere,” senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi said.
The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations and said the party will retain power in the state.
“The fear among Congress’s partners shows their own lack of confidence in their candidates. They are resorting to such antics as they know they would lose. We don’t need to seek support of their candidates are the ‘mitrajot’ is coming back to power very comfortably,” said BJP spokesperson Subhash Dutta. The party has allied with Asom Gana Parishad and the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL).
In 2016, BJP won 60 seats and came to power in Assam for the first time with the support of AGP and BPF.
Political analysts said that all parties in the state feared poaching of candidates.
“The present scenario could be the outcome of the Tamulpur incident when the BPF candidate joined BJP just days ahead of polls. The fear of such incident getting repeated can be seen not just in AIUDF and BPF but also in Congress. These incidents are also not good for a democracy and a tremendous insult on conscience of voters. Such events even before counting of votes could also lead to young voters, who are very careful observers of the political process in Assam, losing faith in the election process ” said Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science at Gauhati University.
