BJP’s winning streak continues in Assam, clinches victory in tribal council elections

The winning streak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues in Assam as the party this time has emerged victorious in the state’s tribal council elections. Despite the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, the saffron party won the majority of seats in the autonomous tribal council polls.

According to media reports, BJP swept the Mising Autonomous Council (MAC), the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) and the Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council (SKAC) elections with a huge mandate. Out of 36 seats in RHAC, BJP along with its ally Jautha Sangram Samity emerged victorious on 34 seats; whereas the Congress and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ended up winning one seat each.

Similarly, in SKAC, the saffron party won 18 out of 26 seats. Congress, here too, carried forward its ‘performance’ and ended up getting 5 seats, whereas 3 seats went in the favour of independent candidates. The most stunning performance came in the MAC elections as the saffron party along with the Ganashakti party managed to win 34 out of 35 seats. Not only that, recently, the party registered a thumping victory in the NC Hills autonomous council elections as well.

PM Narendra Modi appreciated BJP’s local unit for the victory in tribal council polls as he tweeted, “Gratitude to my sisters and brothers of Assam for the strong support to @BJP4Assam in polls to three Tribal Autonomous Councils in the state. I appreciate the local unit of the Party for their constant efforts to serve the people of the state”.

Hemanta Biswa Sharma, BJP leader and convener of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), also extended his gratitude for the party workers saying, “Delighted at stupendous performance of BJP in The election of Tribal Councils”.

With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the people of Assam have reiterated their support in the BJP and have resoundingly rejected the propaganda against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise. The BJP’s victory in the tribal council election is a clear indication that the NRC has the approval of the people, despite the huge propaganda against it. 

In July last year, the Assam Government had published the much awaited final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). There were around 40 lakh people whose names did not feature in the final draft of the NRC. The main motive behind updating and publishing the NRC is to separate authentic Indian citizens in Assam from illegal immigrants. The NRC consists of the names of Indian citizens of Assam and it was first prepared in 1951. Finally, after a long time, the BJP, only party serious about addressing the menace of illegal immigration, came to power. 

Earlier, BJP’s stance on NRC came as good news for all the Hindus whose concerns were left unaddressed by the earlier governments. But the opposition parties and the left-liberal media have time and again criticized the BJP government for addressing the concerns of Hindus and indigenous peoples, and claimed that the NRC exercise is anti-people. Interestingly, after the NRC was announced in Assam, the BJP won the local body election with a huge majority. The results of the tribal council polls are suggestive of the fact that people have full faith in the BJP and the party’s stance on the issue of NRC has received enormous support from the people of Assam.