/ 0
By the time this story is published you will come to know the results of Assembly by-election in Assam. Four seats that will go to bypolls include, Sonari, Jania, Rangapara and Ratabari.
Jania is a Muslim dominated seat and BJP has no expectation from here as well. But certainly following the publication of final National Register of Citizens (NRC) the ensuing by-elections is a litmus test for the saffron camp.
The verdict will throw light on the likely outcome of the 2021 Assam polls. Karimganj North MLA and one of the senior Congress leaders from Barak Valley Kamalakhya Deypurkayastha while sharing his views on Ratabari bypoll with Eastern Panorama said, “BJP has hoodwinked the Hindu Bengalis in the name of NRC. We are confident of winning Ratabari.”
Looking at the larger political picture for Congress, this by-election is also an acid test. The severe drubbing at the hands of BJP in 2019 general elections for the second consecutive time has certainly brought Congress to a point of no return.
Now, it’s a do or die battle for the oldest political party of India. “Every political party goes through a lean patch. 20 years back did anybody think that Congress’ tally will come down to 52 seats in Lok Sabha and BJP will cross 300 on its own. This is very natural. I think media is reading too much into it. Congress will surely bounce back,” said All India Mahila Congress Committee President and former Silchar MP Sushmita Dev.
However, after crisscrossing Ratabari this scribe has noticed certain unnatural activities which might put BJP on back foot.
Kripanath Mallah, the incumbent Karimganj MP represented Ratabari in Assam Assembly for a decade. Following his victory in the last Lok Sabha election, this Assembly seat has fallen vacant.
Highly placed sources in BJP told Eastern Panorama that Mallah is not happy with the nomination of Bijoy Malakar from Ratabari.
“Kripanath Mallah nurtured Ratabari like his own child. He is a leader who has come from the grassroots. At the back of his mind probably he wanted someone from his own family to contest the bypoll. This would have helped him retain his control in Ratabari. But it’s too early to say such things. Let’s wait for the D-day,” said Ranjit Biswas Head of the Department, Political Science at Karimganj College.
Moreover, senior BJP leader and Chairman of Assam Industrial Development Corporation Mission Ranjan Das has outrightly rejected these observations.
“Congress is spreading all these canards. It has already read the writing on the wall. Congress has lost its political base in Karimganj and so it is banking on these make believe stories. Lotus is certainly going to bloom in Ratabari,” said Das.
In a telephonic conversation with Eastern Panorama Karimganj BJP President Subrata Bhattacharjya said, “BJP is on a winning spree. The Prime Minister is a popular political personality in the entire country. The country is scaling new heights of development under his watch. Our government in Assam is doing a commendable job. So, we have no doubts about our victory.”
Satraajit Pal Choudhury
To read the further articles please get your copy of Eastern Panorama November issue @http://www.magzter.com/IN/Hill-Publications/Eastern-Panorama/News/ or mail to contact @easternpanorama.in
