Congress sets target of winning 80 seats in Assam in 2021

The Congress Monday announced a target of winning 80 out of 126 seats in the Assembly polls in Assam in 2021 and decided to focus on re-establishing contact with the people.

The Congress currently has 25 MLAs in state Assembly, while the BJP has 61 and its allies Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People's Front have 14 and 12 members respectively. The AIUDF has 13 members in the House and there is one Independent.

"We have set the 'Mission 80' for 2021 and will start work from now to achieve this target. This is a very serious challenge and not easy, but we are ready to take it," senior leader and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said here.

The main strategy to re-capture power in 2021 will be re-establishing contact with people and strengthening the booth committees for that, he told a press conference.

The decision was made in an executive committee meeting held on Saturday.

The three-time former chief minister admitted that the party became complacent after being in power from 2001 to 2016.

"We can learn from the RSS that how they maintain connect with the people. We will visit each home and enquire about peoples' problems and see if the facilities promised by the BJP government have actually been delivered or not. We will have to spend more time in villages," he added.

Gogoi said the Congress too had Seva Dal, Bharat Yuvak Samaj and other social organisations like the various branches of the RSS, but these have become inactive over the years.

"We need to revive our ground contact with the people. We have to listen to their grievances and accommodate them in our plan of actions. Then they will accept us again," he said.

When asked who will take the leadership for its 'Mission 80' target, Gogoi said, "I will take leadership from the front."