Azara/Goalpara, Nov. 30: Candidates backed by the Rabha Hasong Joint Movement Committee (RHJMC) today swept the maiden Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council election by winning 29 of the 36 seats.
The Congress finished a distant second with three seats, the BJP one and Independents three.
For the Congress, it was its second straight decimation after the maiden Mising Autonomous Council held last month.
The party had won three of the 34 seats in the MAC while candidates backed by Ganashakti secured 312 seats.
The verdict was once again a reflection of popular support for parties/groups pursuing the cause of the communities.
The RHJMC is a conglomerate of 24 organisations. It was constituted on November 18, 2012.
The All Rabha Students Union (ARSU) said the formation of the committee was necessitated by the ethnic violence at BTAD so that people of the council could live in peace.
“These community-based groups have been working in the field for a few years, unlike the political parties who entered the fray only before the polls,” a Congressman said.
Another reason for the Congress not doing well is the apparent “failure” of the state government in ensuring law and order in the Rabha council area, which led to the death of over 20 people in the panchayat election held in February.
State election commissioner Biren Dutta said RHJMC-backed candidates won 12 of the 16 seats in Kamrup district and 17 of the 20 seats in Goalpara district.
The Congress won one and two seats in Kamrup and Goalpara respectively. The Congress, which was expecting at least 17 seats, accepted the verdict with PCC chief spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora describing the result as “people’s mandate.
The Congress was hopeful of forming the council, which has 40 members, with the help of the four members to be nominated by the Congress-led state government if it fell short of a simple majority (21).
The big winners include All Rabha Students’ Union (ARSU) president and RHJMC chief convener Tankeswar Rabha (4,601 votes).
He defeated Congress candidate Sanjiv Rabha (1,398 votes) in South Dudhnoi constituency. Rabha is likely to lead the council.
ARSU vice-president Jiban Rabha is also in the reckoning. “We have struggled 18 years for this day. We will never betray the faith of the people,” he said.
ARSU’s Kamrup district unit secretary Aditya Rabha won the Dakhin Bongaon seat by a record margin of 3,864 votes, defeating AGP candidate Bijan Rabha.
Among the winners are three women from Kamrup.
The RHJMC will meet after Monday to decide on who will lead the council, Tankeswar said. “I am very happy that people living in the Rabha Hasong area have faith in us and we will keep the faith. We will take steps to foster unity among communities living in the council area.”
Hima Rabha, president of All Rabha Women Council, said the victory of the RHJMC-backed candidates was because of the faith people had in them.
The Rabha council was formed in 1995 and the recently held three phase election was its first. There was an overall turnout of 65 per cent in the polls.
