BJP, allies secure simple majority in Assam

BJP and its allies today secured simple majority by bagging 64 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly.
BJP alone has won 44 seats and is leading in 17 while its allies Asom Gana Parishad won eleven seats and led in three others and Bodo People's Front retained nine seats and was leading in three others.
Congress, which had 68 seats in the outgoing House, managed to win only 21 seats and was leading in just four others.
The performance of the main opposition party in the outgoing assembly AIUDF turned out to be poor as it won only nine seats and was leading in four others. Compounding its owes, its chief Badruddin Ajmal lost to Congress candidate Wajed Ali Choudhury in South Salmara.

BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal won a convincing victory in Majuli (ST) seat and outgoing Congress chief minister Tarun Gogoi did so in Titabor.
BJP's state election convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, who left Congress to join the saffron party, romped home with a record margin 85,935 votes over Congress candidate Niren Deka.

AGP President Atul Bora won against sitting Congress MLA Arun Phukan by 40,193 votes, while his party colleague and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta defeated his Congress rival Suresh Bora by a margin of 4558 votes in Baharampur.
Prominent winners for Congress were assembly Speaker Pranab Gogoi from Sibsagar, Agriculture Minister Rakibul Hussain from Samaguri, Health Minister Nazrul Islam from Laharighat, PWD Minister Ajanta Neog from Golaghat, Minority Development and PHED minister Sukur Ali from Chenga.

In the outgoing Assembly, BJP had six seats, AIUDF 18, BPF 12, AGP nine, Trinamool Congress one and independents two. Ten seats were vacant with nine Congress MLAs disqualified since December 21, 2015 after they joined BJP and one Congress MLA resigned on September 15, 2015 after joining BJP.