Assam CM Himanta Sarma says ‘No benefit in voting for Congress’, explains why

Sarma asserted that this time the workers, supporters of Congress, AIUDF and minority community people would also cast their vote for PM Modi.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday took a jibe at the Congress , saying that there is no benefit in voting in favour of the grand old party as whoever wins would eventually join the BJP.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (File)

While addressing at the party workers' meeting at the Karimganj district BJP office where he kicked off his election campaign, Sarma said that no candidate wants to stay in Congress and and wants join the BJP.

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"The question is whether the Congress candidate will remain in Congress or not. Now no one wants to stay in Congress; everyone wants to join the BJP. This time, if I can bring all Congress candidates except one to the BJP, then what will be the benefit of voting for Congress? This is the credit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the sun, and we are the moon," news agency ANI quoted Sarma as saying.

The party's candidate for the Karimganj parliamentary constituency, Kripanath Mallah, and other senior party leaders were also present in the meeting.

Sarma further asserted that this time the workers, supporters of Congress, AIUDF and minority community people would also cast their vote for PM Narendra Modi.

"We are also working for the development of minority people; now, the minority youths are getting jobs without giving bribes. This happened during the Congress regime. Minority people also got Orunodoi and this time, minority people will also vote for us. This time, the BJP will also win in both Karimganj and Nagaon seats," he said.

The chief minister also said that along with the campaign for Lok Sabha elections, the BJP would conduct a socio-economic survey to identify the needs of common people. The needs will be fulfilled by 2026, he added.

The intention behind the survey is to get an actual picture of the development and needs of the commons in Assam, Sarma said.

"We'll distribute forms with five points. Requirement of roads, bridges, Arunodaya Cards and other facilities. We'll list the names of girl students passing class-10 this year and we'll make sure they continue their studies after this," he said.

Sarma's remarks came in the wake of several state Congress leaders switching to the saffron camp. Ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls, working president of the state's Congress unit, Rana Goswami, joined the saffron camp a day after he resigned from the primary membership of his former party. Goswami, a two-time former MLA from Jorhat, joined the BJP in the presence of Sarma and BJP Assam president Bhabesh Kalita in Guwahati.

Read here: Lok Sabha polls: Assam to have 3 phase voting for 14 seats, starting April 19

Purkayastha, who represents the North Karimganj seat from Congress, quit the post last month and extended support to the BJP government. Another Congress MLA Basanta Kumar Das, had also extended support to the ruling government.

BJP is contesting 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam and sharing two seats with its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). After the Election Commission's delimitation, Silchar became a reserved seat for scheduled caste candidates, while Karimganj became an unreserved seat.

As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, voting in the northeastern state will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(With inputs from ANI)