Congress stops BJP's march, wins Tiwa council polls

POLLS HELD 30

Congress      15

TJOM      10

BJP      3

AGP      2

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Aug 22: Stalling BJP's juggerut in the State, the Congress registered an impressive victory in the Tiwa council elections in middle Assam. The win has thrown a spanner into the saffron brigade's campaign for 84-plus seats in next year's Assembly elections.

The Congress was set to retain power in the autonomous council, winning 15 of the 30 seats in which elections were held Thursday. The Tiwa Jatiya Oikya Mancha bagged ten seats, while the BJP and AGP got three and two seats respectively. Elections to six seats - all falling under Dispur LAC - were withheld due to opposition from Amri-Karbi groups.

The thirty seats where elections were held include areas under eight legislative assembly constituencies - seven of them held by Congress and one by AGP.

After the news came in, Rajiv Bhavan in Guwahati erupted in celebrations. Jubilant party workers burst crackers and raised slogans to celebrate the victory.

Citing the results, APCC president Anjan Dutta said, "This shows that the BJP's Mission 84 dream will never be a reality. The voters still have faith in the Congress."

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi added: "It shows the increasing popularity of the Congress-led State government. Voters have understood the double-standards of the BJP. People will not be swayed by hollow promises."

The BJP admitted that the results were "unexpected", but insisted that it won't affect the party's Assembly election prospects. "Yes, the results are unexpected. We have to review what actually went wrong. There were some problems in coordition with grassroot workers. But it will not have any impact on the 2016 Assembly elections," BJP's state general secretary Bijay Gupta said.