Guwahati: In a landslide victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won in 58 out of 60 wards in the Guwahati municipal elections, according to the State Election Commission’s data. The polls were held Friday, with the results announced Sunday.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is looking to expand its footprint in the northeast, won in a single ward, while the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) headed by former All Assam Students’ Union general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi also secured victory in one ward.
“I bow my head to the people of Guwahati for giving @BJP4Assam & its allies a historic win in #GMCElections,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote in a tweet.
I bow my head to the people of Guwahati for giving @BJP4Assam & its allies a historic win in #GMCElections.
With this massive mandate, people have reaffirmed their faith on our development journey under the guidance of Adarniya PM Shri @narendramodi ji.@JPNadda @BJP4India pic.twitter.com/AWZ5mqIhc3
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 24, 2022
The BJP won 52 seats and the AGP six. Meanwhile, the Congress — the longest-ruling party in the state’s history, which was overthrown by the BJP in 2016 — failed to open its account.
Out of a total 200 candidates, the BJP had fielded 53 — three of whom had already been elected uncontested — the Congress 54, AAP 38, AJP 25, AGP seven, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) four, while 19 were independent candidates.
Vote share
Of the total 4,00,806 votes polled in the GMC elections, the BJP had a vote share of 60 per cent, the Congress 13.72 per cent, AAP 10.69 per cent, AGP 6.33 per cent, AJP 3.85 per cent, CPI(M) 0.611 per cent, independents 2.78 per cent, and the rest were NOTA.
“Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to BJP Assam to build on the agenda of development,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that the people had “blessed” the state government’s “hard work”.
Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to @BJP4Assam to build on the agenda of development. They have also blessed the hardwork of the state government under CM @himantabiswa. My gratitude to every BJP Karyakarta for the hardwork.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 24, 2022
BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi also tweeted congratulating the party’s Assam unit for its “unprecedented victory” in the polls.
Many Congratulations to @BJP4Assam Karyakartas & Assam Chief Minister Shri @himantabiswa for the unprecedented victory in the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Elections.
I bow down to thank the people of Assam for reposing their faith in PM Shri @narendramodi and CM Himanta Sarma.
— C T Ravi ?? ಸಿ ಟಿ ರವಿ (@CTRavi_BJP) April 24, 2022
AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated his party’s state unit for “making an entry”.
Congratulations Team Assam for making an entry in NE. Congrats Masuma Begum ji. https://t.co/oBdZ3FsfzH
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 24, 2022
The civic polls were held for the first time since 2013. The Congress had won the last time around, but the party was reduced to a minority in the civic body after the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016 and captured the council.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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