Assam: Local bodies’ elections
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Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council
2022
June 13, 2022: The Times of India
Guwahati: In its biggest electoral victory in Assam, BJP on Sunday won all the 26 seats in the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) to retain the hill district for the second consecutive term, reports Prabin Kalita.
Congress drew a blank for second time in a row. Debutant AAP, which fought in 10 seats, fared better than Congress in four seats, including the one where it finished second.
Baijayant Jay Panda, BJP national vice-president and in charge of Assam, tweeted, “It’s aclean sweep for the @BJP4Assam in the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council by winning all 26 seats. Tremendous performance by the party under the guiding light of PM @narendramodi Ji and able leadership of @himantabiswa Ji. ”
In the last KAAC election in 2017, BJP had won 24 of the 26 seats. The remaining two seats were bagged by Independents.
YEAR WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2018
Panchayats: BJP leads, Cong 2nd, AGP 3rd
Naresh Mitra, BJP leads in panchayat poll, Cong a close 2nd, December 14, 2018: The Times of India
BJP continued to maintain its lead in the Assam panchayat polls on Thursday with Congress emerging a close second.
According to the latest figures issued by the State Election Commission, of the 26,808 rural body seats up for election, BJP has won 7,505 so far, followed by Congress with 5,713 and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) with 1,917. BJP had already won 380 seats uncontested, followed by Congress which won 193 and AGP 28. BJP has been doing well in upper, northern and central Assam and has managed to make inroads into minority-dominated districts in lower Assam. “This is a victory of our government’s pro-people policies,” Ranjeet Kumar Dass, the state BJP chief, said on Thursday. “People across the state rose above the divisive politics of groups with vested interests and chose BJP,” he added.
AGP, which parted ways with BJP for the rural elections after differences over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, said that it was time for introspection. “We respect BJP’s victory and the mandate of the people... we will assess where things went wrong,” AGP chief Atul Bora said.
Former CM Tarun Gogoi said Congress could have fared better had the ticket distribution been more meticulous. “We had our shortcomings,” he said.
6 panchayat candidates win by coin toss
B B Goswami, December 14, 2018: The Times of India
At least six candidates contesting the panchayat election in Barak Valley won by tossing a coin after they were tied with another candidate. Independent candidate Rajana Begum and Congress’s Idarjaan Borbhuiyan, secured 125 votes each in a constituency in Cachar district. Idarjaan was declared winner after she won the toss, a senior election official said.
Five other candidates — one anchalik panchayat candidate under Lalamukh gram panchayat, three gram panchayat members under Nischintapur and one under Panchgram in Hailakandi — were also declared winners after winning the toss. “The candidates accepted it gracefully without any fuss,” said Hailakandi zilla parishad CEO NKSK Singha.
2019
BJP, AGP take over Hailakandi council
BB Goswami, February 8, 2019: The Times of India
Despite securing majority in the Hailakandi zila parishad, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) lost out on formation of the council following a revival of ties between old allies BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) at the panchayat level.
Farhana Khanam Choudhury of the Rangauti-Nitainagar Zila Parishad Council won the seat in the election held on December 9 as an AIUDF candidate. With six seats, AIUDF had secured majority, followed by BJP (4) and AGP (1). However, Khanam defected to BJP, and with support from the AGP member, formed the Hailakandi zila parishad. Farhana is president of the parishad while AGP’s Hilal Uddin Barbhuiya is the vice-president.
2021
NDA vs UPA: region-wise
From: Pabin Kalita , May 4, 2021: The Times of India
See graphic:
NDA vs UPA: region-wise performance in 2021
2022
BJP wins 75 of 80 boards
Kangkan Kalita, Rajib Dutta & BB Goswami, March 9, 2022: The Times of India
Guwahati/Dibrugarh/ Silchar:BJP and its ally AGP swept the Assam civic polls, winning 77 of 80 municipal boards. BJP won 75 and AGP took two, while Congress managed a single win and Independents got the majority in two municipal boards in the state’s first local body elections in which EVMs were used.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said BJP won 742 of the 977 wards across 80 boards, while AGP took 65. Congress won in 71 wards, others triumphed in 99. Candidates won uncontested in 57 wards.
Congress didn’t get majority in any, but the state PCC leadership said the party would take support of two Independents to govern Narayanpur municipal board in Lakhimpur district.
Many AGP nominees, too, faced defeat at the hands of BJP in AGP bastions in upper and lower Assam districts, where a poll alliance could not be stitched between the two state-level allies. BJP also did well in districts having a sizeable population of religious minority voters.
PM Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, home minister Amit Shah and CM Sarma congratulated the people for the landslide victory. “Gratitude to the people of Assam for blessing BJP and our allies in the recently concluded municipal elections. This shows their faith in our Party’s development agenda. I applaud our hardworking Karyakartas for their efforts and service among people,” Modi tweeted.
Sarma said the victory re- flects people’s trust in Modi’s vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayaas.
AAP made history by registering its first victory in Assam’s civic elections—Dhiraj Singh won from ward 11 in Tinsukia. The party took another ward as well.
Deori
Prabin Kalita, Nov 10, 2022: The Times of India
GUWAHATI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), won the Deori autonomous council elections in Assam after the completion of the counting of votes on Thursday.
This is the 9th victory on the trot for BJP in any election in Assam since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP and the AGP won 12 seats, Congress two, and others eight.
The council has 26 members, of which 22 members are elected and the remaining four are nominated.
The BJP had contested in 18 seats while AGP fielded its candidates in four.
Congress contested in 14 seats, seven by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), two by Raijor Dal and one by Assam Jatiya Parishad. There were also 29 Independents in the fray.
Guwahati Municipal Corporation elections
Prabin Kalita , April 25, 2022: The Times of India
Guwahati:BJP and its allies swept the Guwahati Municipal Corporation elections in Assam on Sunday, winning 58 of the 60 wards at stake to make this the saffron camp’s seventh consecutive electoral triumph in the state since its first hurrah in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s individual tally of 52 is the largest mandate for any party in the history of the corporation, contrasting with Congress hitting a nadir with not a single seat to show for the 54 it contested. PM Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit Assam on April 28, tweeted, “Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to @BJP4Assam to build on the agenda of development. They have also blessed the hardwork of the state government under CM @himantabiswa. My gratitude to every BJP Karyakarta for the hardwork. ”
Since making a splash in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle, BJP and its allies have won consecutive assembly elections in 2016 and 2021, two autonomous council polls in 2020, panchayat elections in 2018 and polls to urban bodies last month. In between, NDA triumphed in bypolls and recent elections to two Rajya Sabhaseats.
Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP won a lone seat in the GMC at BJP’s expense and finished runner-up in 24 of the 60 wards. This is its third victory in any election in the state so far, coming on the back of a success each in the Lakhimpur and Tinsukia urban body polls last month. Debutant Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) won one seat.
“I bow my head to the people of Guwahati for giving @BJP4Assam & its allies a historic win in #GMCElections. With this massive mandate, people have reaffirmed their faith on our development journey under the guidanceof Adarniya PM Shri @narendramodi ji,” tweeted CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
