Cracks in INDIA bloc, Congress can win maximum 1 seat: Assam minister
Guwahati, October 14: Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika has claimed that the Congress party can win a maximum of only one out of 14 seats in the 2024 general elections and asserted that all is not well within the INDIA opposition bloc as the party has already made public their probable candidate list for 14 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Speaking to IANS on Saturday, Hazarika said: “After Congress made their probable candidate list public, cracks have widened in the opposition alliance. Assam Jatiya Parishad, a constituent of the INDIA bloc in the state, has placed their demand for at least five seats. Akhil Gogoi from Raijor Dal has been insisting on giving him the Jorhat seat.”
The Minister also mentioned that the situation of Congress is awful in Assam and the state's ruling BJP is set to win at least 11 or 12 Lok Sabha seats in next year's polls.
“Congress has already lost its voter base. They can hardly get one seat. The AIUDF will win one seat. That is all. BJP candidates will emerge victorious in the rest of the seats,” he said.
In the previous Lok Sabha polls, three Congress candidates won in Assam -- Pradyut Bordoloi from Nagaon, Gaurav Gogoi from Kaliabor and Abdul Khaleque from Barpeta.
Following the delimitation exercise, Gogoi’s Kaliabor constituency no longer exists. There is now a new Kaziranga Lok Sabha seat with a changed demography of voters.
The BJP believes that they can easily win the new seat, with no chances for Gogot to emerge victorious.
Nagaon has been a BJP stronghold over the last two decades, with senior party leader and former union minister Rajen Gohain winning the seat four times.
Gohain was denied a ticket last time as he was accused in a molestation case. However, he is a potential candidate this time.
But there is a scuffle between Gohain and the next generation BJP leaders in Nagaon and if the infighting continues till the polls, then the party might face a hard time to win the seat.
Meanwhile, Khaleque’s seat Barpeta is dominated by Muslim votes.
But Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF will field a candidate there.
If the contest becomes a triangular one, then the BJP has a good chance in Barpeta as well.