Guwahati, Sep 7 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency is not a “traditional BJP bastion” and the party will contest the October 6 by-election with the aim of increasing its vote share.
He also stated that he cannot speculate on the result of the by-poll for the central Assam seat, which was won by the Congress in the 2024 general election.
The by-election at Nagaon was necessitated following the resignation of incumbent two-term MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who quit the Congress to join the BJP just ahead of Assembly polls held in April. He is now the MLA from Dispur constituency.
Sarma refused to comment on whether the saffron party will be able to win the seat from the opposition Congress this time, while pointing out that it was a Muslim-majority constituency.
“Even if not meaning to speak on the basis of religion, the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency has 3.5 lakh more minority voters. In the last Assembly elections, we had won in four of the eight segments, and the Congress and its supported candidates in the remaining four,” Sarma told reporters here, after the Election Commission set October six as the date for the bye-poll.
Votes will be counted on October 9.
“From the BJP’s point of view, we aim to retain the four Assembly segments and improve our position in the other four,” he maintained.
Sarma said the BJP will enter the fray with that “limited objective”.
“Whether we will win or lose, I cannot say now, as we lost by 2.5 lakh votes last time. All parties will campaign, and then the public will take their decision,” he said.
The chief minister added that though Nagaon is not a “traditional BJP bastion”, the party winning it cannot be ruled out.
Prior to Bordoloi’s victory in 2019, BJP’s Rajen Gohain had held the constituency since 1999 for four straight terms. However, it is the Congress which has represented Nagaon for the most terms in the Lok Sabha. PTI SSG NN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.