Assam: AGP-BJP alliance could have defeated Congress

The Congress, which won assembly elections with a thumping majority to retain power in Assam, would not have even got a simple majority had the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party cobbled up a pre-poll alliance.

As per the election statistics, the Congress would have been defeated in at least 20 seats had the AGP and the BJP joined hands in fighting the polls in the north-eastern state.

There were at least 10 more seats where the combined vote share of AGP and BJP was less than 500 to 1,000 votes than the winning Congress candidates.

"The entire scenario would have been totally different if AGP and BJP could have sealed a pre-poll alliance," said an AGP leader.

In the 126-member assembly, the Congress won 78 seats while its alliance partner Bodo Peoples Front won 12 seats.

The main opposition AGP could get only 10 seats while the BJP, which had high expectations in the state, succeeded only in five seats.

According to the Election Commission's figure, there are at least 20 seats where the total vote share of AGP and BJP combine was much more than the Congress.

Though AGP and BJP had an alliance during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, they fell apart following differences.

Though there were several rounds of discussions between the parties ahead of the assembly polls, but they could not forge a deal. A section in the AGP was opposed to allying with the BJP, apprehending that it would result in loss of Muslim votes for the party.

According to figures, in prestigious Dispur constituency, Congress leaders Akon Bora polled 83,096 votes whereas AGP's Atul Bora got 74,849 and BJP's Ranjit Rahang received 29,065 votes.

Similarly, in Upper Assam constituency of Dhemaji, Congress's Sumitra Doley Patir polled 59,633 votes while AGP's Paramanand Sonowal and BJP's Sailen Sonowal together got 74,305 votes.

In Duliajan, the Congress's Amiya Gogoi polled 39,511 votes whereas Rameshwar Teli of BJP and Hiteshwar Phukan of AGP together got 45,952 votes.