GUWAHATI: There was a sea of supporters in Guwahati on March 20, as BJP candidate from Jalukbari constituency and incumbent CM Himanta Biswa Sarma filed nomination for the assembly election. Thousands of supporters of CM Sarma gathered in the historic Khanapara field this morning and accompanied him on the way to file the nomination paper in the District Commissioner’s office in the Kamrup (Metro) district in Hengerabari.
After filling the nomination, CM Sarma said that the mood of the people of Assam is in favour of the BJP and the NDA. “We will form the next government without much resistance from the opposition, but I will tell the number of seats we are going to win on April 9 only”, he said. CM Sarma further informed that PM Narendra Modi will address four rallies, while Home Minister Amit Shah will address 6 election rallies after March 28.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma first contested from the Jalukbari constituency in 1996 against AGP heavyweight Brighu Kumar Phukan. He lost the election by a margin of 12000 votes. In 2001, he won for the first time on a Congress ticket and became a state minister in 2002 in the then-CM Tarun Gogoi’s cabinet. In the 2006 and 2011 elections, too, CM Sarma won in Jalukbari with a huge margin. In 2015, he switched to the BJP and won for the first time as a BJP candidate in 2016 over a margin of 71,000 votes. In 2021, he won with a margin of 72,000 votes and became the BJP chief minister of Assam.
Meanwhile, Assam minister Pijush Hazarika, BJP candidate from Jagiroad (SC) constituency, Prasanta Phukan, BJP candidate from Dibrugarh, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, BJP candidate from Golaghat constituency, also filed their nominations. Assam minister Ashok Singhal also filed his nomination from Dhekiajuli constituency as BJP candidate for the third time.
The last date for filing nominations for the Assam assembly election is March 23. 21 & 22 being the holiday, most of the candidates will file their nominations on the last day of March 23. Assam will go for polls on April 9 in a single phase. BJP has announced its candidate list for 88 assembly constituencies. The last remaining candidate of the ruling party will be declared today, while the NDA alliance partner AGP has announced its candidate list for 26 assembly constituencies, and BPF has also announced its 11-candidate list for the Bidoland Territorial Council area. The main opposition in the state, Congress, has alliances with a few small regional parties and the left. The ruling NDA is showing confidence in repeating its winning streak for the third consecutive time to form the next government in Assam.
