Guwahati: Arrogance, directionless leadership and an unchanging body language are among the reasons for the Congress drawing a blank in the 13th North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) election, former Assam unit general secretary Apurba Bhattacharjee said.
Bhattacharjee told ThePrint that he was compelled to leave the party and submit his resignation Saturday.
What could be a double whammy for the opposition party is the speculation about Bhattacharjee, the Dima Hasao in-charge, rejoining the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) where he cut teeth in politics.
Highlighting the poor election campaign in North Cachar Hills, he said the Congress failed to give importance to this election and had no plan.
“To some extent, it is a tradition in such councils or autonomous council elections — they always prefer to remain with the ruling party. It is quite natural. When the Congress was in power, all councils, developmental councils were with it,” he said.
“But being the strongest opposition that wants to come back to power, I didn’t see any plan on ground. They failed to give importance to this election. Then what is the use of my sacrifice?”
Polling for the 28 NCHAC constituencies was held 8 January, and the results were declared Friday. While the BJP won 25 seats, the remaining three went to Independents. The BJP won uncontested in six seats. The TMC, the AAP and BJP’s ally AGP drew a blank, indicating ‘outsiders’ were not finding space in the hills.
The BJP recorded an overall vote share of 55.52 percent, while the TMC and Congress’s vote shares were 7.63 percent and 8.87 percent respectively.
Besides the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and the Bodoland Territorial Council, the NCHAC is the third tribal council under the Sixth Schedule in Assam where the BJP is in power — on its own or in alliance with smaller regional parties.
Soon after the results, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee posted on X that his party had managed a higher vote share than “primary opposition” Congress, despite contesting the NCHAC elections for the first time — a possible reference to the vote share in contested seats (TMC 12.40 percent, Congress 8.78 percent).
Despite contesting NCHAC elections for the first time @AITC4Assam managed a higher vote share than INC – the primary opposition.
One might say their seat share aspirations in Bengal are akin to aiming for the stars when they couldn't quite grasp the ground in their own backyard! pic.twitter.com/YUDw8qlR32
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) January 13, 2024
Pointing to the “arrogance” of state and central Congress leaders, Apurba Bhattacharjee said the party might never find the path back to power.
“Since joining the Congress, I had seen that they weren’t grasping the reality. If you want to swim against the direction, you might very well acquire the strength needed to do so, and have a proper plan. But such a plan was never visualised, and I also failed to communicate the same to the state and central leadership. Actually, they were not ready to listen,” he said.
“The high command thinks it knows everything despite us being born and brought up here. They have no idea on the environment of the state or the demography. I was fed up with them. If they were not ready to listen to the reality and my pain, they’re not concerned about their own future. Even after losing elections, they have not changed body language. It’s quite impossible for the party to make a comeback.”
The state BJP leadership, meanwhile, is exalted with the support of Christian voters in Dima Hasao, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma making this point on social media platform ‘X’ Friday.
Thank you Dima Hasao!
The resounding mandate given by the people to @BJP4Assam in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council elections is a reassertion of the immense faith they have on the developmental agenda of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji.
This victory… pic.twitter.com/P70KMkZKID
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 12, 2024
“The Christian voters in North Cachar Hills have accepted us for translating ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” into reality under PM Modi. The indigenous Assamese people in the hills had been long deprived of development under the Congress government,” said BJP state spokesperson Dewan Dhrubajyoti Moral.
“Also, with CM Himanta Biswa Sarma raising the bar with his development initiatives, the Congress bid farewell with zero votes. It is an answer against the injustice during Congress rule.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘A deal with a defanged tiger’? ULFA’s history & how peace pact could impact Paresh Baruah faction