BJP retains Assam’s Majuli assembly seat

|HT|

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained Assam’s Majuli assembly seat for which the by-poll was held last week. The by-poll was necessitated as former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal vacated the seat after becoming a Union minister last year. BJP’s candidate, businessman-turned-politician Bhuban Gam, won the seat by securing 67,242 votes. His closest rival, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP)’s Chittaranjan Basumatary, got 25,101 votes.

Gam thanked the people of Majuli. “This is not my victory but their win. I am thankful to our party leadership... chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ...Sonowal, and state unit president Bhabesh Kalita for their faith in me,” said Gam.

In a tweet, Sarma said Gam’s win reflects public trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda of growth and his vision of “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas”.

Congress, which won the seat thrice between 2001 and 2011, left the seat for AJP, a newly formed regional party, which failed to win any seat in last year’s assembly polls. AJP general secretary Jagdish Bhuyan said they thank the people of Majuli for their love and support. “We have secured nearly 25,000 votes within a very short period of campaigning. We extend our best wishes to the winning candidate and remain committed to the development of Majuli and its people.”

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)