Guwahati: The fortnight-long, high-voltage campaign for the Assam assembly elections finally came to a close at 5 pm on Tuesday, capping two weeks of bruising allegations and denials, fiery rhetoric and a flood of promises — from cows, buffaloes and LPG cylinders to mustard oil, jobs and even justice for Zubeen Garg within 100 days.Among the top two contenders, BJP and Congress, the former’s theme of jati-mati-bheti — protecting Assamese culture, language and identity while vowing to drive out every Bangladeshi ‘miya’ infiltrator — was so dominant that it drowned out even its own bouquet of beneficiary schemes, fresh or modified, while the latter primarily focussed on attacking CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP’s ‘politics of hate”.The initial sombre notes of the campaigns turned bitter towards the end, with the grand old party accusing Himanta and his wife of possessing undeclared assets and multiple passports. While the charges were met with strong denials and police action from the couple, the state’s 2.5 crore voters debated upon the issue, whether at home or outside.With this election being the first state assembly polls after the 2023 delimitation exercise, across 126 constituencies, the redrawn boundaries have reshaped the state’s political landscape, particularly for the Muslim voters of Bangladesh origin, whose decisive influence has shrunk from 31 to 22 seats.While the change has reduced the electoral space for AIUDF, its has strengthened the prospects of, what Himanta declared, indigenous candidates across the remaining 104 seats. However, that did not prevent AIUDF from calling the exercise ‘unconstitutional’ as it was carried out by the EC and not by a delimitation commission, as mandated.Spearheaded by PM Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, Himanta and other prominent leaders, including party president Nitin Nabin, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal and Nirmala Sitharaman — along with CMs Yogi Adityanath, Pema Khandu, Yumnam Khemchand Singh and Manik Saha — BJP relentlessly attacked Congress for allegedly encouraging infiltrators to settle in Assam to build their vote bank.Accusing the opposition of failing to control insurgency or deliver development during its tenure, Himanta declared he had “broken the arms and legs of the miyas” during his five-year term, before vowing to “break their backbones” in the next five.Highlighting its record of granting land rights to tea garden workers, empowering women, providing financial aid to girl students, and reducing child marriage by 84%, BJP leaders promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), if voted to power.The party’s manifesto has promised two lakh jobs, implementation of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, to fast-track detection and deportation of illegal migrants, while pitching Assam as India’s “Eastern Gateway,” with a pledge Rs 5 lakh crore investment to boost connectivity.In contrast to BJP’s identity-driven pitch, Congress’s campaign was built around the slogan “Natun Bor Asom,” which translates to ‘A New Greater Assam’, designed to project inclusiveness, renewal and change.The grand old party also promised cash assistance for women, health insurance for all and land rights for indigenous people, besides promising justice for Zubeen Garg within 100 days of forming its govt. While Himanta, almost single-handedly, drove BJP’s offensive, the opposition’s counter-attack was primarily revolved around Gaurav Gogoi.For Congress, while president Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed rallies across the state, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi rallied for AIUDF candidates. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana, too, also joined the fray, canvassing for JMM candidates.A total of 722 candidates, of which 59 are women, will be vying across 126 constituencies.While the BJP-led alliance, consisting of BPF, AGP and Rabha-Hasong Joutha Mancha, eye a third straight term at the office, the Congress-led bloc, including Raijor Dal, AJP, All Party Hill Leaders Conference, CPM and CPI(ML)(L) will be looking to cause an upset.With voting set to take place in a single phase on Thursday, it won’t be until May 4, when suspense over the state’s next govt will be finally over.
