From Congress bastion to BJP fortress: NDA set for historic third term in Assam

The BJP, which had just five legislators in the Assembly during the Congress last term, saw a meteoric rise in its poll fortunes in 2016, bagging 60 seats and leading its alliance with AGP and BPF to a total of 86.

The BJP-led NDA that is set to assume power in Assam on Tuesday will become the only non-Congress dispensation to rule the state for a third consecutive term. Chief Minister-designate Himanta Biswa Sarma will also etch his name in the political record books by being the first non-Congress CM to take oath for the second straight term. The northeastern state has witnessed a significant political shift from being a Congress stronghold to a BJP bastion. The regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which was the only party to lead two non-Congress governments before the BJP, is now a part of the NDA. The NDA came to power for the third straight term with a stupendous two-thirds majority, with the BJP alone securing 82 seats. Its allies, AGP and Bodoland People's Front (BPF), bagged 10 seats each in the 126-member Assembly. The Congress, on the other hand, could win just 19 seats. The grand old party had been the dominant force in the state till 1978, when it was ousted from power for the first time by the Janata Party. The Janata Party government, however, could not complete its term. The politically volatile period from 1979 to 1985 witnessed the anti-infiltration Assam Agitation, with power oscillating between the Congress and the President's Rule. The AGP, formed out of the agitation, grabbed power in its maiden outing in 1985 and again in 1996. The Congress returned to form government in 2001 and went on to consolidate its position by retaining power for the third straight term in the 2011 elections, securing 78 seats on its own. The BJP, which had just five legislators in the Assembly during the Congress' last term, saw a meteoric rise in its poll fortunes in 2016, bagging 60 seats and leading its alliance with AGP and BPF to a total of 86. The saffron party's tally remained unchanged at 60 in the 2021 polls, and with the NDA securing 75 seats. It, however, saw a phenomenal rise in the number of seats in this election. The BJP won 82 seats, the highest-ever by a party, barring the Congress, while the NDA alliance ended up with 102 MLAs. Sarma, who took over from Sarbananda Sonowal to head the second NDA government in Assam, has been selected as the chief minister for the new government. After Prafulla Kumar Mahanta of the AGP, he will be the only non-Congress leader to sit on the chief minister's chair for a second term. While Mahanta had a break of five years before returning to power, Sarma will be at the helm of government for the second consecutive time, a feat held only by Congress chief ministers till now.