BJP-AGP combine makes clean sweep ** Cong draws blank ** AAP opens account
Guwahati, April 24 (IANS): The ruling BJP-AGP alliance on Sunday secured a clean sweep by winning 58 seats in the 60-seat Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opened its account in the civic body.
According to the results announced by the Assam State Election Commission, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 52 wards including the three which were earlier elected unopposed by the saffron party candidates while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) secured six wards out of seven wards it contested.
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In a significant development in the civic polls, the AAP and the Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a local party, secured one seat each.
AAP candidate Masuma Begum won ward number 42, while AJP nominee Hukum Chand Ali secured victory in ward number one, defeating the BJP and AGP candidates, respectively.
The main Opposition Congress, which fielded candidates in 54 wards, this time, could not open its account in the GMC elections, which were held after a gap of nine years.
The Congress’ ally CPI-M, which contested in four wards, also failed to win any ward. In all, 197 candidates had contested the elections in 57 wards.
The GMC election was last held in 2013, when Congress won the prestigious civic body but due to internal wranglings several elected councillors in 2014 and 2015 had shifted to BJP facilitating the saffron party to form the municipal board.
Besides the ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress, the AAP had fielded 38 candidates.
After its win in the recent Punjab Assembly elections, and buoyed by its first taste of success in two municipal wards in Lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts in last month’s civic polls, the AAP is seeking to expand its base in Assam and in the northeastern region.
Around 52.80 per cent of the 7,96,829 voters exercised their franchise in the GMC polls on Friday.
Electronic Voting Machines were used in the politically important elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma among others congratulated the people of Guwahati for voting the BJP-led alliance.
Modi tweeted: “Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to BJP to build on the agenda of development. They have also blessed the hardwork of the state government under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. My gratitude to every BJP Karyakarta for the hardwork.”
Sharing the PM’s tweet on his official handle on the micro-blogging site, Sarma wrote: “We’re immensely grateful to you Adarniya Pradhan Mantri ji for your good wishes and blessings. This has been a result of your astounding vision and robust development initiatives in the North East.”
Guwahati is profusely in gratitude, he added.
Further the Assam chief minister tweeted “I bow my head to the people of Guwahati for giving BJP and its allies a historic win in GMC Elections. With this massive mandate, people have reaffirmed their faith on our development journey under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi.”
Former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also hailed the BJP and its ally for the triumph in the GMC polls.
