Congress confident of winning 8 seats in Assam

The Assam Congress said it is confident of bagging seven to eight Lok Sabha seats in the State. Assam went to the two-phased parliamentary elections on April 16 and April 23 for 14 seats. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhubaneswar Kalita said the party is sure of winning in eight to nine seats. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party had won nine out of the 14 seats. Kalita said: “Our observers went to the constituencies and our arithmetic say we will win in 8 to nine seats. There are also possibilities of gaining lead in some other seats.”

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has entered into an alliance with the regional Asom Gana Parishad or AGP, expressed hope that the party would fare well this time. The saffron party won Nagaon and Mangaldoi Lok Sabha seats last time. “This year, we are sure of winning more seats. People have rejected the Congress party for its misrule,” BJP spokesperson Charan Deka said. Even the AGP is not lagging behind. The party has exuded confidence that the party will be able to win majority of the seats this time. AGP leader Atul Bora said that the party would fare well. “We donot do calculation like the Congress. The fates of the candidates are sealed in the EVMs and everything will be crystal clear on May 16th.”

Whatever the political equations and calculations do round the corner, but it is for sure that the ruling Congress will have a tough fight in almost all the seats it contested. The only seat which the party did not contest is the Kokrajhar seat where strong contender is sitting MP and candidate of the Bodoland People’s Front Sansuma Khungur Bwismuthiary. The fight for political supremacy in Assam is between the Congress party and the opposition combine of the AGP and the BJP, while in at least two seats it would be a triangular contest with the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF), a minority based party.