BJP-AGP set to bag Assam; Rahul Gandhi's Congress party's hopes crushed

As per information from ECI at 1430 hours, BJP candidates are in the lead in nine seats and its ruling ally Asom Gana Parisahd (AGP) is leading in one seat.

Out of these seats, BJP’s Pradan Baruah in Lakhimpur, seeking re-election, had attained lead of over 2.80 lakh votes against his nearest Congress rival.

Similarly, in Dibrugarh, BJP’s sitting MP Rameswar Teli is leading by a margin of over 2.20 votes over the Congress candidate.

BJP’s candidate for Autonomous Districts (Diphu) constituency, Horen Sing Bey, also looks set to put the seat in the party’s kitty for the first time as he is leading his nearest Congress rival by over 80,000 votes.

BJP ally AGP’s Barpeta candidate Kumar Deepak Das is also likely to bag the seat as he has been maintaining a steady margin against the nearest Congress candidate.

The ruling alliance’s third partner, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), is facing uncertainty in tasting victory as it’s Kokrajhar candidate and state Cabinet minister Pramila Rani Brahma has been pushed to the second position.

Sitting MP and Independent candidate Naba Sarania is leading in Kokrajhar as per latest reports, but the constituency has been witnessing fluctuating fortunes after nearly every round of counting.

The main Opposition Congress has so far been able to achieve lead in only one constituency, Kaliabor, which has been in the party’s hold since 1998 and represented by members of the same family of former state CM Tarun Gogoi, who had himself also represented it.

Kaliabor is currently held by Gogoi’s son Gaurav, who is once again in the fray.

All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, seeking re-election from Silchar, is likely to bite the dust as the BJP candidate Rajdeep Roy has been leading in the constituency.

The fortunes for the other major Opposition party of the state, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), are less bleak at the moment as it’s candidates are leading in two seats, out of the three seats the party had contested.

Party supremo and sitting MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal seems set to retain Dhubri constituency for the third consecutive term, attaining lead of over 1.45 lakh votes so far.

The ruling coalition partners had contested the polls under a seat sharing arrangement, with BJP fielding candidates in 10 seats, AGP in three and BPF in one

The Congress had fielded candidates in all 14 seats and the AIUDF had confined to contesting the three seats it had won in last Lok Sabha election.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had bagged seven seats, three each by Congress and AIUDF and one by an Independent. 

Image: UNI