The Congress candidate for the Udalguri constituency in Assam, Suren Daimari, on Wednesday resigned from the party on the eve of the Assembly polls.
The Congress-led Opposition alliance has been able to create “a buzz of a contest” despite initial hiccups and is gearing up for a direct fight against the ruling BJP-led alliance in most of the 126 constituencies.
Daimari, 73, announced his resignation before mediapersons, citing “lack of support” from the Congress leadership despite repeated reminders. He also alleged that the party only worked for the Bengali-speaking Muslim community and did nothing for the Scheduled Tribes.
Congress leaders confirmed Daimari’s resignation but said they were yet to receive anything formally from him. They also said Daimari’s move would not impact the party’s overall poll prospects.
Sources in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which covers the Udalguri constituency, said it was a direct fight between the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). Although Daimari has resigned from the party, he will officially remain in the fray as the last date for withdrawal of nominations was March 26.
This is the second pre-poll setback for the Congress after the rejection of the
candidature of Mahananda Sarkar, whom the party had fielded in Barpeta. Sarkar’s nomination papers were not in order during the last phase of the scrutiny.
However, Congress appears bullish because the six-party alliance, which includes the AJP, Raijor Dal, CPM, CPI (ML) and the APHLC, “is working on the ground” in Upper Assam and North Assam, where the BJP did well in the 2021 Assembly polls. Moreover, it has a “credible” chief ministerial face in Assam PCC chief Gaurav Gogoi, who is contesting from the Jorhat Assembly seat.
The Congress’s anti-corruption and inclusive plank also seemed to be working against chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s polarisation and infiltration pitch revolving around Miya Muslims.
The BJP, however, entered the polls with an advantage because of its beneficiary schemes touching women and youth, its strong organisational set-up and campaign blitzkrieg which saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah making around seven trips to the state since August last year.
Sarma is confident the BJP-led alliance, which includes the BPF and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), will win around 100 seats.
However, political observers feel it will depend on how much impact the late surge by the Opposition alliance has made. The Congress is expecting around 73 seats
for the Opposition alliance, which is nine more than the majority mark.