What has dominated the electoral discourse this time is the issue of infiltration.
The battle for 126 seats in Assam comes amid a bitter political row between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress over the corruption allegations against Chief Minister Himanta Sarma. The BJP is expecting a third straight term in the state.
Here are the top 10 points on Assam Assembly Elections:
- The BJP, banking on its decade-long performance, is confident about beating the Congress, which has been further weakened by a string of defections.
- Key leaders of the Congress have made a beeline for the BJP, lending strength to the Chief minister's claim that by 2026, "no Hindu will remain in Assam Congress".
- "There is no BJP in Assam now. What exists is a Congress under Himanta Biswa Sarma with a BJP label," Gogoi has mocked. "This election will be a fight between the Congress led by Tarun Gogoi and the Congress led by Himanta Biswa Sarma," he said.
- What has dominated the electoral discourse this time is the issue of infiltration, with the BJP promising to drive out the illegal entrants from Bangladesh and protect "Jati-Mati-Bheti" -- the Assamese culture, language and identity.
- This message, however, was drowned towards the end of the campaign with the BJP's sharp counter to Congress claims that Chief Minister Sarma and his wife have undisclosed assets abroad. Sarma's wife, the Congress also claimed, possessed multiple passports.
- Sarma has claimed that the Congress leaders, in their desperation to stave off defeat, have circulated "completely fabricated documents". His wife Rinki Bhuyan Sharma said the Congress has "gone berserk". "For the last two years, they have been doing every little thing to defame me, my daughter, my son, we are nowhere related to politics," she said.
- The third corner of the triangular contest in Assam, perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF, is in a tight corner following delimitation.
- Today's election is the first since the delimitation exercise was conducted in Assam. 19 seats have increased as the boundaries of constituencies were redrawn, shrinking the decisive influence of Muslim voters from 31 to 22 seats.
- The death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore last September has also taken a political turn. The government's claim -- SIT investigation and arrests -- notwithstanding, the opposition has been insistently demanding a faster probe.
- The counting of votes will take place on May 4 -- along with that of Kerala, West Bengal, and Puducherry.
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