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Congress candidate from Nazira assembly constituency and Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Wednesday, asserted that the "common people have not voted for BJP," after exit polls projected another term for the NDA government in the north-eastern state.
Speaking with ANI, Saikia slammed the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to the state a decade ago. Without paying much heed to the exit polls, he said that the BJP brought "bad days" for Assam instead of "good days. "I don't pay much attention to exit polls, but the common man didn't vote for the BJP this time. I know this because elections are fought on issues. The BJP gave us a vision document for 10 years, but none of its promises was fulfilled. Instead of good times, bad times came for Assam. Unemployment is a major issue in Assam, with more than 3.3 million unemployed youth. Nothing was done about that. Because of this, change was needed. None of this happened. There's more corruption than before, and all the promises made haven't been fulfilled," he said. Furthermore, Saikia cited the Citizenship Amendment Act, inflation, ST status to six communities, unemployment, the death of Zubeen Garg and a corruption-free government to affirm that the BJP did not keep any of the promises made to the people of Assam. He also reflected on the alleged unfulfilled promises to tea garden workers made by the BJP, including a hike in daily wage. "The issue of foreign citizens in Assam was a major part of the Assam Accord. They brought the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019, and after that, it seems they are set to bring foreigners into Assam until 2024. Then there was the blow of inflation. There was a promise to grant ST status to six communities; twelve years have passed, and they just keep dragging it on. After that, unemployment is a major issue in Assam, with more than 33 lakh unemployed youths. Nothing has been done for them. And other promises like a corruption-free government, it was a main issue that Congress was very corrupt, which is why a change was needed. None of that happened. There is more corruption than before. And none of the promises were kept; they had internal fighting. Now it's known that there was also a major issue involving Zubeen Garg, where the CM himself had said Zubeen would get justice by April, but he couldn't deliver on that either," he stated. "Regarding the tea garden workers, the BJP promised a daily wage of 350 in 2014. That hasn't happened yet; it's still at 250. So, considering all this, there's no reason for the people of Assam to choose the BJP again. Even the 1250 under the Orunodoi scheme didn't reach everyone. Those who should have received it were deprived. And in the tea gardens, all this hasn't had much of an impact," he added. Claiming that there was an "undercurrent for BJP," the Assam LoP expressed dissent with the exit polls and said that "I don't think many votes have gone in the BJP's favour." "Therefore, based on my observations after travelling across Assam, there was an undercurrent against the BJP, and that's why there are many silent voters. Over 70 lakh voters on the list are young, around 29-30 years old, out of a total of about 2.10 crore voters. So, overall, I don't think many votes have gone in the BJP's favour. The results will be out in a few days. They also say that things won't go well for us this time. I don't think it will be bad for me; I believe things will go well for me, too," Saikia affirmed. His remarks come after two exit polls projected that the BJP-led NDA is poised to retain power in Assam. The exit polls came on Wednesday after the polling process ended in four states and a union territory. Axis My India predicted that the BJP will secure 88-100 seats and Congress 24 to 36 seats. The state has 126 assembly seats and went to the polls on April 9. JVC predicted 88-101 seats for the BJP and 23-33 seats for Congress. It gave 0-2 seats in AIUDF and three to others. Assam had seen a high voter turnout of 85.38% per cent. The Congress stitched a six-party alliance to take on the ruling BJP-led NDA, which sought its third successive term in office. In the 2021 polls, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 75 out of 126 seats. Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party with 60 seats. Congress won 29 seats and the All India United Democratic Front 16. Counting of votes for Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Keralam, Assam and Puducherry will take place on May 4. The exit poll results were released after the conclusion of the second phase of polling in West Bengal on Wednesday. Assam, Kerala and Puducherry went to the polls on April 9 and Tamil Nadu on April 23. West Bengal went to the polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29. (ANI)
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