Assam Assembly Elections 2016: Is Tarun Gogoi jittery or overconfident?

Guwahati, May 14: The much-awaited results of the Assam Assembly Elections 2016 will be declared on May 19. As few days are left for the big announcement to be made by the Election Commission, the incumbent Congress chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who is hoping to become the head of the state for the fourth consecutive time, looked overconfident as he interacted with media persons on May 13 (Friday) in Guwahati.

"We are definitely going to get the majority. We'll reach the magic figure of 64, nothing less than that," Gogoi said.

Is Gogoi overconfident or simply trying to hide his nervousness? Political experts say Gogoi is trying hard to look confident in front of the media, perhaps to hide his nervousness. In a tightly contested election, which got over on April 11, the BJP ran a massive campaign against Gogoi's "incompetent" government.

Assam also witnessed a huge voters' turnout, an estimated 84 percent. In such a scenario, nobody is ready to make any predictions.

The 81-year-old Congress veteran also ruled out any possibility of forming a secular Third Front to keep the BJP away from power.

He alleged that the AIUDF had covertly supported the BJP by fielding its candidates in constituencies where its support base was "nil".

"If there is an alliance, it must be on an honourable basis, and on certain principle. In Muslim constituencies, their support base is almost nil. Then what is the point of putting up candidates there, where there is no chance. Indirectly, they were going to help the BJP."

Gogoi alleged that the BJP-led central government was giving "step-motherly" treatment to the border state and had withdrawn the "Special Category status" given to Assam under which the state would get 90 percent grant from the central government for its budget.

OneIndia News