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Congress and its allies in Assam have expressed confidence of victory in Assam polls and said they will remain vigilant on the counting day on Monday.
The leaders of six parties who contested the polls together held a meeting on Saturday. Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi, Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi, Assam Jatiya Parishad President Lurinjyoti Gogoi, leaders of CPI(M) and CPI(ML), and John Ingti Kathar, President of the Karbi Hills-based party APHLC participated in the meeting. Candidates who contested the polls were also present and the meeting discussed ways to prevent any irregularities during the counting process, a release said. Addressing the media, Gaurav Gogoi firmly stated that people from all walks of life across Upper Assam, Lower Assam, Barak Valley, and the Hill areas have exercised their franchise this time to form a new government, and a clear reflection of this will be seen in the results on May 4. "Discussion was held and the representatives have said that the people of Assam, farmers, youths, and women cast their votes to make a new government in Assam. The results will come out on May 4. We will have to keep an eye on the strong rooms. We all have to prepare for the counting day. We are all united. BJP has tried to create an atmosphere in Assam through exit polls, but we are not falling into this trap," he said. He further said that since the day of polling, the ruling party tried to create disturbances by exercising its influence in various places, but as soon as the grassroots level opposition leaders, workers, and conscious citizens informed about it, those irregularities were eliminated by filing complaints with the administration with promptness. Gaurav Gogoi also informed that detailed discussions were held in the meeting to prevent any biased activities during counting. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who was also present, said that it is certain that there will be a new government in Assam this time. He said that on the day of counting, the ruling party will try to adopt various tactical manoeuvres and will make ill-attempts to use the administrative machinery, but the alliance will thwart those. He stated that they have contested many elections against the BJP and know this well from experience, therefore everyone is alert. He added that their war room in Delhi will remain alert, their legal team is active in Assam, and they are determined to keep their candidates safe at all times. "Our team in Assam is strong, united and confident. We have fought the election very well. Whatever the media has reported on the exit poll. I personally don't believe in it. There is a big fear among the voters in Assam. Even the freebies have not been given to those who don't identify with the BJP. When such is the position, then who'll come out to say who has voted for whom?" he said. AICC General Secretary Jitendra Singh said that the Congress party has entered the election strongly this time despite adverse circumstances. He accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of making baseless and indecent remarks against his rivals Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi said that their alliance will win on May 4 and Gaurav Gogoi will be the new Chief Minister of Assam. Akhil Gogoi said that he has been with the people since 1993 through meetings and movements and understands their pulse. He said the alliance will win more than 70 seats. Assam Jatiya Parishad President Lurinjyoti Gogoi said that the fall of the BJP government on May 4 is certain. APHLC President John Ingti Kathar said that the results will be promising for their alliance in Karbi Anglong district. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Jharkhand Minister Bandhu Tirkey were among those present. Assam went to the polls in the first phase of election on April 9. The BJP-led alliance is looking for third straight victory in the polls in a state which has traditionally been a Congress bastion. Congress stitched a six-party alliance to prevent split in anti-BJP vote and present a united face in front of people in the northeastern state. The state has 126 assembly seats. Exit polls projected that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is poised to retain power for a third successive term. Axis My India projected that the BJP-led NDA would secure 88 to 100 of 126 seats and the Congress-led alliance 24 to 36 seats. JVC predicted 88-101 seats for the NDA and 23-33 seats for the Congress-led alliance. It gave 0-2 seats to AIUDF and three to others. Matrize projected 85-95 seats for the BJP-led alliance, 25-32 for the Congress-led alliance, and 6-12 seats for others. (ANI)
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