GUWAHATI: The BJP-led ruling alliance in Assam swept the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections, the results for which were declared on Sunday.
The alliance bagged 58 of the 60 wards – BJP 52 (three unopposed) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) six. One ward each went to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Asom Jatiya Parishad.
A beleaguered Congress, fighting for survival, drew a blank. The polls were held after a gap of nine years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the city residents.
“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 hard work of the state government under CM @himantabiswa,” he tweeted.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was effusive in his praise of the voters for giving the BJP alliance a historic win.
“With this massive mandate, people have reaffirmed their faith on our development journey under the guidance of the Adarniya PM,” he said.
The BJP’s juggernaut could be gauged from the fact that it won 52 of the 53 wards it contested. Also, the AGP managed to win six of the seven wards where it fielded candidates.
That the Congress, which is the state’s principal opposition party, will not fare well was on expected lines but nobody perhaps expected it to be decimated.
The AAP went to the polls with all guns blazing as it attempted to make inroads into the state by capitalizing on a weakened Congress but it ended up winning a solitary ward. The party was so upbeat about its poll prospects that it had contested 39 wards.
Earlier, it opened its account in the state’s civic bodies by winning two wards in Tinsukia and Lakhimpur. Leaders of both Congress and AAP were not available for comment.