Assam: Congress has different takes on its poll performance

Guwahati, May 4: While all parties are assessing their preformance ahead of May 19 when results of the Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory (UT) will come out, the Congress has come up with two different versions.

While the party, which has dominated the north-eastern state for most part of the post-Independence era, has been claiming of bagging 70-plus seats in the open, it has apprised the All India Congress Committee that it will get around 68 seats. Still further, a recent internal assessment of the party said it will win 52 seats or more in the recently held two-phase election.

To form the government in Assam, one has to secure 64 seats. The total number of seats in the Assembly is 126.

According to Assam's local media reports, the Congress is also considering a plan to seek help from other parties to form the government this time. However, according to a report in The Sentinel, it is the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) which the Congress is eyeing more than the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of Badruddin Ajmal. The BPF and AGP have made an alliance with the BJP in this election.

The Congress said it wants to keep the BJP out of power and it can even offer the chief minister's post to its alliance partner, the Sentinel report added. The grand-old party said though its performance in the first phase was poor, it swept the polls in the second phase.

Meanwhile, a number of leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP, Hagrama Mohilary of the BPF and state Congress chief Anjan Dutta have gone abroad. While the first two have gone to the US, Dutta has gone to Africa.

Oneindia News