Gogoi's era of turnaround comes to an end

For past 15 years it has been the same ritual. With every election in the state since 2001, whether it was panchayat polls or general election or the 2006 and 2011 state assembly polls, three-time Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi would start the poll result day by going to the Kamakhya shrine and then to a local masjid and church.

Thursday was no different, but his visits to places of worship to seek blessings could not ensure good political dividends for Gogoi’s party. His 15-year rule in Assam has come to an end.

The octogenarian Congress CM, also known as a strong critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted defeat but has decided not to hang up his boots.

It was Gogoi who single-handedly brought the Congress to power in Assam in 2001. He also ensured the party's victory in Assam in 2006 and 2011 assembly elections.

Gogoi has been credited with several turnarounds in Assam. He rejuvenated a bankrupt state treasury, stopped secret killings and tackled the insurgency problem with great maturity.

He has also been able to take Assam on development track and helped revive the tea industry as well.
Yet it seems the anti-incumbency of 15 years and the problems within the party in his last term might have triggered his government’s rejection.

While Gogoi won his Titabar seat in Upper Assam, his party lost its strong bastion. Congress could not even reach double figures in Upper Assam. It lost its Ahom and caste Assamese vote bank to the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. This time around, Congress completely lost its traditional tea garden labourers vote bank with its tallest tea tribe leader Paban Singh Ghatowar also being defeated.

Former Gogoi aide scripts BJP victory

Over the last decade, Himanta Biswa Sarma has been the most talked about politician in Assam, DHNS reports from Guwahati.

He was once Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s closest aide, but went on to lead an unsuccessful rebellion against the three-time CM. Once a powerful Congress minister, Sarma left the party in 2015 along with nine other MLAs to join the BJP. Today, as BJP poll manager, he scripted the saffron party’s victory in the state. Seven workers who followed him out of Congress emerged victorious too.

Initially, Sarma’s inclusion was opposed by a section of the state BJP unit. However, the central leadership expressed faith in his ability to deliver. He was instrumental in bringing former Congress ally — the Bodoland Peoples’ Front — on board too. Later, he got AGP to join the BJP.

Sarma won from the traditional Jalukbari seat with 86,000 votes. Perhaps, he won with the biggest margin in the state and this is his fourth consecutive victory from the constituency.

It was Sarma who coined the BJP’s poll mantra – a fight for safeguarding the rights of the indigenous people and their Jati (identity or read socio-political rights), mati (land or read economic rights) and bheti (base or read territorial rights). “The people of Assam have responded to our call. We will offer them good governance and solve all contentious issues,” Sarma announced in Guwahati. Between March 4 and April 9, Sarma attended around 270 poll rallies. He undertook several road shows and covered about 200 km by foot, vociferously campaigning against the ruling Congress. While some political experts say Sarma will play a key role in the next cabinet, likely to be headed by BJP chief ministerial aspirant Sarbananda Sonowal, others say the party is likely to use him at the national level.

Sarma was taken into Congress by former chief minister Hiteshwar Saikia.