Nagaon (Assam), Oct 4 (PTI): A high-octane campaign for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam ended on Sunday as the BJP-led NDA went all out to woo voters in the minority-dominated constituency, while the Congress came out in full strength to retain the seat.
The AIUDF remained the third force in the contest, seeking to regain its support base, particularly among Muslim voters, in the October 6 by-election.
Former MLA Sibamoni Bora of the Congress is pitted against BJP’s Devasish Sharma, a former IAS officer who had resigned as Nagaon district commissioner in September to enter electoral politics, and AIUDF chief and MLA Badruddin Ajmal is also in the fray.
The bypoll was necessitated after sitting MP Pradyut Bordoloi quit the Congress to join the BJP ahead of the assembly elections earlier this year. He is now a saffron party MLA.
From the controversial ‘biryani’ remark to government schemes and citizenship issues, the political parties raked up diverse issues in a bid to reach out to voters and push their respective narratives, with each seeking to demonstrate its strength in the constituency.
The result, however, will not impact the balance of power in Parliament.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led the campaign for the NDA, addressing rallies across the Lok Sabha seat, which has eight Assembly segments – with the BJP winning four, the Congress three and the Raijor Dal one in the state polls held earlier this year.
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, state BJP president Dilip Saikia, NDA constituent AGP’s president and state cabinet minister Atul Bora, several other state ministers, MPs, MLAs and other leaders of both the parties also joined the campaign for the ruling coalition’s candidate.
Sarma highlighted various government schemes, especially for women and youths, and assured voters of increasing coverage if the BJP candidate emerged victorious.
He accused the opposition MLAs of preventing accelerated development in their respective assembly segments and urged voters to choose the NDA this time to join the bandwagon of growth.
Alleging that the Congress failed to work for the people, the CM took a jibe at the opposition party’s Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, who hails from the Samaguri area under the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, over his eating habits.
Sarma equated Hussain with the mythological character ‘Bakasura’ and alleged that the MP was busy eating his biryani and chicken-pulao since morning, “digesting” government scheme funds and not concerned about the people.
Hussain also hit back at the chief minister, retorting that God had sent him to this world to eat biryani and asserted that the people will reject such politics.
Along with Hussain, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, AICC in-charge for Assam Bhubesh Baghel, leaders of the opposition alliance comprising the CPI(M) and the Assam Jatiya Parishad, among others, campaigned extensively throughout the Lok Sabha constituency to retain the seat.
The Congress won three out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Gogoi, leading the campaign, charged the chief minister with indulging in “communal politics” and questioned where the BJP’s sympathy was when “government madrasas were shut down, fake encounters staged, and evictions carried out”.
Recalling derogatory remarks by BJP leaders against Bengali-speaking Muslims, the MP claimed that the saffron party was invoking “nationalist Miyas” for the sake of votes in Muslim-dominated areas.
The Congress leadership also alleged a clandestine understanding between the BJP and the AIUDF, and said whenever Sarma finds himself in trouble, he summons Ajmal “just like a 108 ambulance service”.
Ajmal, who has rejected the allegation, led his party’s campaign to regain its popularity among the Muslim voters, as the AIUDF was reduced from 16 MLAs to just two in the recent state elections.
The perfume baron projected himself and the AIUDF as the true representatives of the minority population and sought a chance to work for the people of Nagaon.
The Assam unit of the Trinamool Congress, which had named educationist Abdul Salam as its candidate, withdrew from the fray protesting the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the party’s original name and symbol.
A total of 15 candidates are in the fray for the by-election, including nine Independents, with 19.05 lakh voters, including 9.43 lakh women and 50 third-gender electors, eligible to exercise their franchise.
The counting will take place on October 9.
